A Life-changing Experience
by anime4life2112
Summary: At age 3, she is mentally scarred for life, unable to trust or love. She receives orders to eliminate a certain teacher as a student but is unable to cooperate or trust, and has a short fuse. But it made her all the more interesting in the eyes of a certain overachieving student council president and a certain academically superior truant delinquent. (Rated T for possible gore)
1. The New Girl, An Undercover Assassin

A/N: A thousand apologies for having not updated anything for who knows how long. Like seriously, I lost track of how long I haven't uploaded anything. I had been busy with exams and new school, I barely found time, not to mention only recently my laptop was repaired. It got wrecked two years ago, and only during the second half of last year, when my exams ended, did my father finally agree to repair it. So, I'd just like to inform you readers, if you have read my other two stories, I am going to be deleting them and redoing them. In all honesty, reading it now, I feel dissatisfied about the plot, and decided I will be redoing both stories. As an apology, I have started on a new fanfic, which is this one you are about to read. I hope you enjoy it. Once again, sorry to those who wanted updates for either of my stories, especially for 'Falling In Love With My Rival'.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just parts of the plot in this story.

* * *

Chapter 1: The New Girl, An Undercover Assassin

The sound of footsteps echoed as a single person walked down a hallway in the top floor of a 45-story building. The young girl, no older than 15, ignored the slightly skeptical looks and cringes of the staff and businessmen at the sight of crimson red liquid that had been splattered on her face and arms drip on the floor to leave a trail, as she passed by them. Looking straight forward, she inwardly sighs in relieve upon seeing the entrance to her destination.

Reaching the double doors that were at the end of the hallway she was walking down, she knocked twice on one of the doors, ignoring the fact that by doing so she had stained them with the said crimson liquid. Hearing a low, muffed voice saying "enter", she pressed down on the door knob and pushed the door open, entering the room before closing the door behind her.

Turning to her left, she stood face to face to a man in his early thirties sitting behind a table, resting his chin on the back of a hand, while the other typed away at ridiculous speed on the keyboard of a silver laptop, a frown etched on his rather handsome face despite his age. The girl silently stood at her current spot, waiting patiently for the man to finish whatever he was doing. Soon, the man stopped typing and closed his laptop, letting out a small sigh, before averting his honey gold and crimson red eyes to the young girl before him, who instantly straightened her posture when his eyes met hers in a tense stare.

His secretary, who had been in the office as well, stiffened slightly as he watched the two continue staring at each other, neither side relenting their gaze on the other, completely oblivious to the tense and stuffy atmosphere they were creating as a result. After a solid two minutes, the man, never breaking eye contact with the girl, smirked and gestured for the secretary to leave, who more than happily complied, unsure whether he would have been able to continue to put up with the silence any further. As soon as they heard the sound of the door falling unto its hinges, the man, being the first to break eye contact, let out a low chuckle with his eyes closed. The girl, however, remained neutral, and kept an indifferent expression on her face. When the man stopped laughing, she finally spoke up.

"I have returned from my latest mission, Gid-sama," she said in a monotonous voice, her eyes void of any emotion as she watched the man in front of her.

"Yes, I can see that," the man, Gid, replied, his voice laced with a hint of sarcasm and amusement, as he silently observed the girl in front of her. She was currently wearing a simple, skin-tight, black short-sleeved top with a v-shaped collar, a pair of black gloves, with a pair of dark blue skinny jeans, and a pair of high-heeled, laced combat boots that went no higher than her knees. She would have looked like an average teenager if it weren't for the multiple gun and knife holders strapped around her legs and waist.

The girl was not very short, having a nice height of 165cm. At first glance, she appeared to be a frail and elegant looking girl, much like a doll, but with close and careful observation, everything that made her attractive just made her seem all the more deadly. Her complexion was so pale, her skin almost looked as white as snow. Her arms were lean, legs were long, and had a generously large chest for a 15 year old, as well as a not too broad waist.

She had long, jet-black hair that reached her ankles, the length of hair from around her knees to the ends slowly turned from jet-black to a bordeaux black, to a rather bright crimson. The same applied to her bangs and fringe. Her straight bangs, which ended just above her shoulders, curled inwards slightly near the ends, framing her heart-shaped face beautifully, her long fringe swept to the left, covering her left eye, ending right below her left ear.

Her exposed right eye was bicoloured, the top half lavender purple and the bottom half honey gold, the colours seeming to mix in the middle, giving a very soft look, however the eye hidden beneath her fringe, also bicoloured, was a poisonous green at the top half, and a bloody crimson at the bottom half. Her right eye seemed to glow slightly from behind her fringe, settling a deadly look in her right eye, almost like a mirror to her affiliations with the underworld.

Rarely had Gid ever looked directly at her right eye, but whenever he did, it never failed to send a shiver a fear into him, despite being her superior. Then again, she did prove to him that in terms of combat and assassination, she was way ahead of him, and almost cost him his life in the process. Putting it bluntly and simply, he respected and feared her at the same time.

"Your report on the target, please."

"Kurosawa Shiro, age 23, male, responsible for three rape murders and seven serial murders, successfully eliminated."

"You found a target that couldn't even be confirmed existent by more than 20 assassins in three days and even managed to get rid of him…I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You are our top assassin, and have been able to do tons of missions that hundreds of assassins had given up on," Gid said in a knowing tone, nodding to himself.

"I presume my report isn't the only reason you have called for me. Would you mind getting to the point and telling me what you have to say?" the girl asked, frowning slightly, although it was almost unnoticeable.

"Alright. Just yesterday, I received a request from the government. But first, have you heard of the experiments conducted on accumulating anti-matter in humans?"

"The one led by the scientist Yanagisawa? I read about it before. They used a top-class assassin, the Reaper, who was arrested last year right?"

"Correct. It seems that the sudden disappearance of most of the moon was due to the explosion of an anti-matter experiment that had been conducted on a lab rat. It is determined that on March 13, the same would happen to the Reaper, here on Earth," Gid finally filled her in, his tone as grim as his expression. The girl's eyes widened slightly for a fraction of a second, before she narrowed them as he continued.

"But, for unknown reasons, he had created an agreement with the government: he would pose as a teacher for the class 3-E in Kunugigaoka Middle School for one year, and only students and teachers of that class, as well as the chairman of Kunugigaoka, along with the higher ups he had already made contact with, would be aware of this state secret. The students are to assassinate him, and he is not permitted to hurt them, thus he can't retaliate, but he is able to move at a speed of Mach 20, so landing an attack on him is almost impossible. It would be appreciated if you didn't hurt the students, or let anyone else hurt them, without revealing your identity as an assassin, if possible"

"I see..."

"So far, there is only one other individual who is posing as a teacher but is also out for him. He is from the Ministry of Defence, Karasuma Tadaomi. It appears he is training them to increase their chances of assassinating the target."

"Anything else?"

"Yes. It appears that, as a result of the anti-matter in the target's body, he is immune to lead bullets. The government will be providing weapons and bullets made of a certain substance that would be able to rupture his cells. Everything has been prepared for you. We have already bought an apartment near the school, and all the necessities are already prepared: uniform, academic materials and weapons. Further information on the target has been left in a folder in your temporary quarters. If you need any extra materials, do inform me, so that I may send the requests to the government. In three days, you shall attend the school. I will be accompanying you on your first day as your guardian. There will be a limo at the entrance of this building to bring you to your new quarters. For the next three days, you are on standby. While you pose as a student there, I would like you to keep a low profile, as we have not told anyone that we were sending in an assassin. Just blend in with the students, if you can."

"Might I ask, sir, why did send me on this mission as a student rather than as an assassin?"

"More time to observe your target, more time to think of ways to successfully eliminate him. Besides, amongst all my assassins, you are the only one who is military trained, and the most skilled at assassinations after all."

"…I understand."

"You will be taking the entrance examination for that school. How you are going to get to that class, I leave it to you. Information on that school's system and other students are also in the folder I mentioned earlier. You are dismissed, Teresa Rosia Deviluke."

The said girl bowed towards Gid slightly before turning around to leave. As the door shut, Gid sighed and stared out of the windows on the side of his office.

'To be such a deadly person at that age…she could use some company with kids around her age,' he thought to himself, before closing his eyes and reopening his laptop. On the brightly lit screen, was a draft of an email to be sent to the government. Sighing, he began typing once again to complete that draft, before sending it.

* * *

'He never was any good at hiding things from me,' Teresa thought to herself as she heading back to the lift lobby, once again ignoring the staring and whispering and the finger-pointing of those who actually believed they were being discreet about.

She could tell by how he had avoided eye contact, even though it was just for a fraction of a second, and the way he had rushed slightly while giving her a reason for her being his choice, gave away the fact that he wasn't telling the truth, but she knew it was entirely a lie either.

Stepping into the lift, she stood silently as the lift went down. After a moment, she stared down at her hands. Despite them being clad in a pair of black gloves, she could make out the blood stains on them, fresh ones from her mission today, and long dried ones from earlier missions. She felt nothing while staring at her victims' blood. No sadistic or sardonic satisfaction, or guilt and pity crossed her mind, instead she felt serene. Not that she had an obsession with or liking towards blood, but seeing it like this on an almost daily basis enabled her to bear the memories of her dark past.

Hearing a faint ding, the doors of the lift swung open, and she let her arms drop to her sides as she walked out and towards the automatic doors of the entrance, where a limo waited for her. Standing at the entrance was one of Gid's hitmen whom she had made contact with frequently.

"Long time no see, Edward," Teresa said with an emotionless look on her face, but her tone was soft, showing that she was pleased to see him again, alive. The said man simply smirked in response.

"Your ride awaits, milady," he replied jokingly, amusement dancing in his emerald orbs as he opened the door of the limo, allowing her to slide into it. Closing the door, he opened the door to the driver's seat and slid in, closing the door after him. Soon, he started the engine and drove away from the building.

"So, you completed another impossible mission today, didn't you? Spread like wildfire when the staff at the reception center saw you enter, covered in your victim's blood. I mean, it was clearly not yours since you don't have a single injury," Edward mused, staring at Teresa from his rear view mirror. She stared back at him, the same look on her face as before, only now, he saw irritation and frustration flash past her eyes…well, eye to be exact, since her left eye was covered by her fringe.

"Seriously, after ten years of working with them, they are still surprised by what I do? I understand that I am an overachiever, but I have been completing tons of impossible missions for seven years now. You'd think they would have gotten used to it by then," she scowled, clearly not enjoying all the attention she gained in this line of work. Edward simply smirked at her.

"And after ten years of working with you, I can't understand how you are able to say such things with such a harsh tone and keep a completely indifferent look all the while," he snickered. It was true. While Teresa gave her short rant, her expression hadn't changed, in fact, not even her eye twitched at her frustration.

She simply shrugged in response and turned her head to look out of the window, staring at the tall buildings and the people around. Out of complete boredom, she begun to observe the cars around hers on the road as she was brought to her new quarters.

Soon, the limo stopped in front of a rather tall building, and Edward escorted her o the lift lobby. Luckily, there wasn't anyone around, so no one saw her current appearance. As soon as they had entered the lift, Edward's expression turned serious.

"The boss has bought the entire top floor and the rooftop for you. You're free to customize and use those levels as you please. As for now, you should take a shower and change into something appropriate. You will be taking that examination, starting from today at four o'clock," Edward said. Teresa frowned and fished out her phone, turning it on, she saw it was already half past one.

Reaching the top floor, they stepped out of the lift, and Teresa had to admit she was surprised. The whole level was literally one apartment, and the rooftop was connected to it, meaning it came together as a set for those who bought top floors.

"…This is way bigger than I had expected," she mumbled, and Edward could only nod his head in agreement, not trusting his voice at that moment. He always knew that Teresa, being the best assassin they had, would receive special treatment and privileges, but he hadn't expected it to be this grand a prize she would receive.

'And from Gid-sama, nonetheless,' Edward thought to himself, taking in his surroundings, his jaw hanging slightly. Gid never gave praise to anyone easily, although Edward had expected Teresa to have receive it, he had not anticipated this great a reward. Realising an absence of presence, he turned around to find Teresa long gone, for she had already made her way to the bathroom. To take that bath, no doubt.

[In the bathroom]

As she shed herself of her clothing, her eyes trailed down to her stomach and chest, the constant reminder of that night evident on her skin. Gnashing her teeth, she tossed her clothes into a basket before walking into the shower. Turning on the tap and turning almost to the hottest, boiling hot water rained down on her, stinging her with its heat, but she relished in it. Looking down, she stared at the blood that got washed off her body and flowing into the drain, more memories of that night flooded her mind.

It hurt, but it hurt less.

'It's better this way,' she thought to herself before soaping herself thoroughly to remove the scent of blood from her body. She couldn't afford to attract unwanted attention and eventually have her target see through her before anything begun.

[In the living room]

Edward sighed to himself, before making himself comfortable on a couch. He wasn't that much older than Teresa, but he definitely didn't start this line of work as early as he did, and he couldn't help but feel sorry for the girl, no matter how unfazed she always appeared. If anything, the very fact she was constantly unfazed was what made him feel all the more sorry for her,

"If only things had turned out differently for her. She could seriously use some happiness in her life..."

* * *

[Five days later]

The entrance examination had lasted for three days, being tested five different subjects. Honestly speaking, it was slightly tougher than she had expected. After having read up about the school, she had a gist of the difficulty level of the entrance examination, but she hadn't expected it to be as hard as it was.

Not that it made any difference, considering the fact that she finished everything up to university studies as training as an assassin. People frequently believed her to be older than she actually was because of her appearance, so it helped that she could blend in with people older than her whenever needed for a mission.

Teresa studied the contents of the folder that was given to her. She had already went through them once and effortlessly memorised every last detail, however she decided to go over them again, observing the information obtained on the all students and teachers in the middle school level of Kunugigaoka Academy. Laying out six pieces of paper, she studied the information of the six people on them.

The target. She stared at his profile, rather baffled be the fact that he looked nothing human. His skin was a bright yellow, his body the shape of an octopus, had tons of tentacles, and wore a large black cloak over it all. Not exactly the image she had in mind for the world's best assassin. He looked so aloof and goofy, she simply couldn't see him in a serious light. On the paper were all his abilities and weakness, which weren't very much. They didn't even have his name. Perhaps the organisation wasn't able to obtain more information. Not that it mattered, she would just find more during her time in the class.

Asano Gakuhou, the chairman. She frowned as she read, again, the information on him. He was a considerably admirable person in the past, having graduated from a top school from overseas with loads of credentials, and mastered multiple sports, and out of all things he chose to become a cram-school teacher. But once he had become the chairman of Kunugigaoka Academy, he had instilled a rather harsh system in the school, with regards to students in class 3-E. While she understood it was natural to put student falling behind in lower-ability classes, she didn't see how it justified the criticism and sadistic treatment they received from the rest of the school. Just how twisted was this man? Not to mention he was inhumanly smart and strong, and has sharp intuition to boot. She needed to progress with much caution around this man, to make sure he never catches on with her plans.

'Looks like things are going to be quite troublesome…' Teresa thought to herself as she moved on to the next person.

Asano Gakushuu, the student council president and the chairman's son. The striking resemblance between father and son was so great, it was sick. Very much like his father, he excelled in academics and sports, and had a good grasp of martial arts. What more, just looking at him, Teresa sensed that he probably had sharper intuition than the chairman's. Being the top student in the school doesn't seem to pressure him much though, and it didn't appear that these two had a close relationship as family members.

'…Things are really going to get troublesome,' Teresa thought to herself. Probably in the entire school, besides the target, these two are on the top of her list to look out for. Looks like she's going to need a few audio and visual bugs.

Karasuma Tadaomi, an elite from the Ministry of Defence. Just looking at him, she could tell that despite how lean he looked, he had a crazy amount of raw strength, much like her. He may serve to be a tough opponent for her. On top of that, he seems to have a rather sharp nose for bloodlust. She would need to completely conceal hers so as to not be suspected by him. He was a rather mild danger compared to the Asanos.

Shiota Nagisa, a student who fell in class E due to his results dropping. Teresa stared at his appearance. His facial features were rather feminine, and had rather long hair. It didn't seem that he liked that about himself though, and his physical psyche wasn't that great. It also seemed that he had family issues and gender identity issues. But when she saw his eyes, Teresa gasped, instantly seeing his hidden yet deadly bloodlust. He definitely had the makings of an assassin, and what it takes to be a top assassin at that. He looked too innocent to be deadly though…

Akabane Karma, another student who fell into class E due to violent behaviour. Apparently he had always been involved in fights with other students in and out of the school. He beat up a student from class 3C, who was bullying a student from class 3E, and that costed him suspension as well as him landing into class 3E. He seemed kinder than he appeared. Not to mention, he was rather good-looking with that crimson red hair and amber gold eyes. But overall, he looked evilly mischievous and enjoyed messing around with students a lot, but only got physical with students who deserved it, regardless of gender. He kind of lived up to his name. While he wasn't as muscular as Terasaka from 3-E, she could tell he was physically stronger, and probably excelled in weaponry.

Shiota Nagisa and Akabane Karma. If the two had existed as a single person, that individual would have been a great assassin, skill and strength wise. Too bad they weren't. But either way, they were worth looking out for, just to be on the safe side.

Keeping the sheets of papers back into the folder, she stood up and went to the entrance of her quarters. Opening the door, she stared at the letter box right outside it and saw a white envelope sticking out. Pulling it out, she closed the door behind her and went back in, settling on the couch before opening the envelope. She left out a small sigh of relief when she saw it was a letter of acceptance from the school, and she had been accepted.

'That's one trial cleared, for now,' she thought to herself, nonetheless feeling satisfied at her success. She had looked up on the school on the internet using her own laptop, and saw that the acceptance rate wasn't very high as students needed rather high marks to get in. Not that she wasn't confident about doing well, but the required marks to get accepted was inconsistent over the years, so she wasn't all too sure whether she would have made it in.

Gathering the papers, she placed them back into the envelope and placed it on the coffee table in front of her. Suddenly, her phone began vibrating. Picking it up from the table, Teresa stared at the screen, which flashed the words 'unknown number'. Picking up the call, she placed the phone to her ear and faked a sweet and soft voice.

"Hello, to whom am I speaking with?" she asked, patiently waiting for the person on the other end to respond.

"I am the chairman of Kunugigaoka Academy, Asano Gakuhou. Is this Amano Teresa?" a deep and smooth voice spoke.

"Yes, it is."

"I would like you to come to my office tomorrow morning at seven in full school uniform. I have something I'd like to speak with you regarding the results of your entrance examinations," the man on the other end of the line continued. Teresa's eyes narrowed, yep, dealing with this one was going to be troublesome.

"I see. I understand, sir. Thank you for taking your time to call me. I apologise if doing so had inconvenienced you," Teresa replied, keeping her fake voice so as to not make him suspicious.

"Oh, it was no trouble at all. Then I shall see you tomorrow," the headmaster said, before ending the call. Teresa removed the device from her ears and stared at the now blank screen. Had he already begun to suspect her? Or was it something else? She frowned as those thoughts crossed her mind, but eventually brushed them aside deciding it wasn't possible for her cover to be blown so soon, no matter how sharp the chairman was.

Opening her laptop, she quickly typed out a draft on the principal's invitation and sent it to Gid, before closing it again and picking up the math textbook the school would be using for the year. She had finished reading the textbooks of other subjects and solved all the questions as well as memorised the contents of each book. It helped that she had perfect memory and was instantly able to recall anything she heard, felt, tasted, smelled and saw. She was halfway through math when she had decided to take out the folder that was given to her by Gid and look some stuff over. This would help her stay head in class, but now she needed to think of a way to get her into class 3-E.

'I guess I will be reading the school rules on their website next,' Teresa thought to herself as she went back to reading the math textbook. After a while, she was done with math and kept the book away into her study room. Going into her bedroom, her eyes landed on the school uniform hanging on her cupboard door handle, and the light in her eyes dulled.

"School, huh…"

* * *

[The next day]

Teresa sat in the back seat of Gid's limousine with him sitting on her right. She stared out of the window with a bored expression, wondering what on earth had she been called to the chairman's office for on hr very first day. Gid, who had been checking his handphone, turned to look at Teresa, seeing her stare out of the window. She didn't react like what other children around her age would react to going to school. Other children would either be happy to go to school and meet their friends, or annoyed at the fact that they have to attend classes, or upset because they may probably have to face with bullying issues, but she was none of the above. She was so indifferent, not giving a care in the world. He understood that she was only here for the mission, but for someone her age to feel nothing towards this, she really wasn't normal. Then again, she began as an assassin earlier than any other assassin he knew, even earlier than Irina Jelavich, who began when she was eleven.

"…Would you stop staring at me? I can practically feel you drilling a hole through my head with your stare," Teresa mumbled, which caused Gid to pale and turn away instantly, while Edward, who was driving the limousine, chuckled slightly. Teresa was the only one who worked under Gid who was able to, for the lack of a better word, overwhelm him.

"My apologies. I was just wondering how you felt towards this…arrangement," Gid said, choosing his words carefully. He seriously couldn't tell how she felt about this arrangement for the mission, considering the fact that she wasn't like every other normal person. Teresa turned her head around to stare at Gid, eyes filled with boredom and irritation, causing Gid to freeze up slightly.

"How I feel is none of your concern, and you need not to be concerned. I will do what is necessary for the mission," Teresa replied tersely, before closing her eyes and resting her chin on her hand, turning away from Gid to face the window once more. Gid sighed in resignation and hung his head. Soon they arrived the front gates of the academy, and Edward opened the door for her, reaching out his hand for her to hold, which she accepted and pulled herself out. Slinging on her schoolbag, she began walking through the gate, ignoring the staring, pointing and hushed whispering echoing throughout the campus over the appearance of a new girl.

'Shouldn't have arrived in a limo. Should've known it would attract unnecessary attraction,' Teresa thought to herself, mentally rolling her eyes and prevented a groan from escaping her lips. She was used to this reaction every time she was on the headquarters of the assassin organisation, but she couldn't help but get sick of it. Keeping a straight face, she continued walking, hearing Gid's footsteps catching up to hers. Meeting a teacher, her demeanour changed completely.

"Excuse me? I've just transferred today, and I have been called to the chairman's office. Could you tell me where it is?" Teresa asked, smiling sweetly while using the same soft tone when speaking to Asano Gakuhou. The teacher stared at her for a moment.

"Are you Amano Teresa?" he asked, raising a brow at her. Nodding, the teacher immediately broke into a wide smile.

"I see, I see! Please follow me, I shall escort you to the chairman's office," he said, ll to cheerily, before turning around and walking away. Teresa silently followed him, with Gid right behind her.

Soon, they arrived at the double doors of the office, and the teacher knocked twice. A low, deep voice said "enter", and the teacher opened the door for the duo. As soon as the two entered the office, the door shut behind them. Looking ahead, Teresa immediately took in her surroundings. There were windows lined up on the right wall and the wall right in front. Right in front of her was he chairman's desk, and sitting behind it, was the chairman himself. Looking up from a monitor that was on the desk, his eyes settled on the girl in front of him.

"You are Amano Teresa, correct?" he asked, smiling at her. Teresa mentally flinched at his smile, it seriously creeped her out, but didn't let it break her façade, and continued smiling sweetly.

"Yes, sir," she replied. The chairman's smile widened slightly as he gestured her to move forward, which she and Gid complied to. As she entered into the sunlight that cascaded through the windows, he quietly took in her appearance.

She wore the long-sleeved white button-up blouse, leaving the top two buttons undone, with the black necktie secured loosely around her neck, the knot just below the third button on her blouse. She wasn't wearing the school jacket, and her shirt was untucked, covering almost half of the school grey, plaid skirt. Instead of knee high socks, she wore a pair of black stockings, covering her legs completely, and a pair of brown school shoes. Her hair had been tied into a pair of low pigtails, allowing it to flow out towards their respective sides, her bangs and fringe untouched. Looking closely at her hair, he eyes narrowed slightly.

"…Are you aware that it is against the school rules to dye your hair?" he asked after a moment of silence. Teresa stared back at him, honestly confused.

"I'm…afraid I don't understand," she replied, lifting a brow while tilting her head to the side.

"The ends of your hair, are they not dyed red?" he asked, rephrasing his question. Teresa let out an 'oh' before replying.

"No, it isn't. This is my natural hair colour. My father's hair was black, while my mother's hair was red," she replied, and it was the truth. At least that was what she remembered.

"I believe you about your father, but I thought your mother had pink hair?" he asked, and Teresa's eyes dulled slightly in realisation of what she had to say to this.

"Are you referring to Sephie?" The chairman's eyes widened slightly, his smile turning into a slight frown.

"…You are on a first-name basis with your mother?"

"Sephie and Gid aren't my biological parents, they are my foster ones. My biological parents have passed away," she replied. It wasn't a lie. When Gid found her, he had decided to put her under his legal care, but was only her father in name, and Sephie was his wife. The chairman remained silent as an unreadable expression appeared on Teresa's face, causing him to frown. He was always good at reading people's thoughts completely, but he couldn't get even a gist of what was crossing her mind that moment.

"…I see, I apologise, and I'm sorry for your loss," he said, choosing his words carefully. Teresa simply nodded, before smiling sweetly at him, catching him off-guard.

"So, why did you call me here?" she asked. That was the whole point as to why they were here.

"Oh yes. I wanted to inform you, that you achieved full marks for every subject for your entrance examination. You are the first student to have achieved such a feat, hence we've decided to put you in class 3-A as a special exception," the chairman said, his smile returning to his face as he did. Teresa blinked, seemingly dazed for a moment before snapping out of her reverie.

"Oh…I see," Teresa replied, keeping a slightly strained smile on. On the inside, she was completely freaking out.

'Great, just great. I was just trying to get a score good enough to enter, but no, I score so high I go straight to their top class. This got a whole lot more troublesome. How the heck am I going to drop to class 3-E without attracting too much attention now?!' she mentally screamed, completely frustrated with herself. She created more trouble than she needed and wanted for herself, making her mission harder for her.

"Since classes are starting soon, I will have a teacher escort you to your class. You may be dismissed," the chairman said, smiling all the while.

"Well then, please excuse me," Teresa replied, bowing slightly, before turning to leave, with Gid right behind her. Once they were out, they began walking down the hallway.

"Why did you tell him that?" Gid asked, frowning. It wasn't like her to speak of personal affairs with anyone, whether or not she was on the job. Teresa didn't reply, but instead took out her phone and started typing. When she was done and had placed her phone back in her pocket, Gid heard his phone ring. Taking it out, he read the message she had sent him.

'If I lied, he would have noticed and got suspicious of me, and then sooner or later my cover would be blown. He's more intuitive than he appears. Also, don't speak to me when we are in this school. It is loaded with cameras and mics in every corner, which he can see and hear from that monitor on his desk,' she had typed, and his eyebrows were raised really high. Even he hadn't noticed them, nor the fact that the monitor was connected to them.

"Well, then, have a nice day," he said, and Teresa, facing away from him, simply nodded and followed a teacher who appeared in front of her to escort her to class, while he went downstairs to the entrance of the school, where the limousine was, all the while shaking his head.

"What a terrifying child…"

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Do review!**

 **To those confused as to why I re-updated this chapter, I was going through it and saw that I made a grammar mistake, something I really can't stand.**

 **XOXO, anime4l** **ife2112**


	2. Meet The Demons, In Different Situations

**Hello, my dear readers. I'm glad that some of you are enjoying the story, even though it was only the first chapter. As some of you may have noticed, I used the names 'Gid' and 'Sephie', which are names of characters in the anime 'To LOVE Ru'. Just so you know, I will be using characters from other animes since I couldn't think up some more made-up characters, but it is not a crossover. I'm just using the characters, although I will be changing the sirnames, like I did for Gid, instead of Deviluke, I changed his sirname to Amano, while I gave the sirname Deviluke to Teresa. Well, here's the second chapter. The plot is probably a bit dull, but it has be like that for the rest of the story. By the way, I will be leaving for Japan tomorrow, and won't be able to write anything for about a week, so it will be a while before you get your third chapter. Well, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Assassination Classroom or its characters, just some parts of the plot.**

* * *

Chapter 2: Meeting Different Demons, In Different Situations

Following the teacher silently, Teresa observed her surroundings. As she had mentioned to Gid earlier, she spotted cameras and mics around the hallways. She would have to behave properly as long as she was in the school. Now this was something she hadn't accounted for. She knew it would be hard to keep her true nature from the chairman, but she hadn't expected such tight security in the school. She let out a silent sigh, feeling a headache coming on. Soon the teacher stopped walking, causing her to look up, seeing '3-A' on a small sign next to the door of the classroom that they were outside.

"Please wait here. Come in when I call you," the teacher said, smiling sweetly, making Teresa flinch internally at the fakeness of it, before walking into the classroom. The teacher then entered the classroom, silencing all the students. As the teacher begun to do her pre-introduction by talking about her results, Teresa stared through the windows to observe the class. Everyone was as stated in the information Gid had given her. Her eyes landed on Gakushuu, who had a slightly interested expression on his face, before his eyes suddenly averted from the teacher to the window, staring right at her. Her eyes widened slightly, before giving a cute, close-eyed smile while slightly tilting her head to the side in response.

'He's sharper than I thought,' she groaned internally. Soon she heard the teacher call her, and she opened the classroom door.

As she stepped in, she could feel the burning stares of the students, no doubt beginning to evaluate her, seeing as she got into the class of the "chosen ones" on her first day. Keeping her smile, she opted to ignore their judgmental stares and introduce herself.

"It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Amano Teresa, please take care of me," she said, using the same sweet tone she had used while speaking the chairman, keeping her smile on, before bowing slightly.

"Amano-san, you may sit at the empty seat over there," the teacher said, pointing to an empty table in the middle of the row of tables right next to the windows on the other wall. Nodding, she silently walked over to her seat. Sitting down, she hung her bag on the hook provided under the table, before pulling out her pencil case and placing it on the table.

"Alright, let's begin homeroom," the teacher said, and begun an endless speech, to which Teresa listened to with half a ear. She rested her elbow in the table and chin on her hand as she stared at the teacher with a slightly bored expression on her face. She could seriously care less about what the teacher had to say, but she needed to make sure that she stays a model student to prevent attracting too much attention to herself. Soon, the school be rang, signally the end of homeroom. The teacher then prepared to leave.

"Ah, Amano-san, please follow me to the staffroom, so that I may pass you your school schedule," he said.

"Yes, sir," Teresa replied, before standing up and following him out of class, once again ignoring the pointed stares and hushed whispers that erected as she stepped out of the classroom. Following the teacher into the staffroom, she watched him sit down at his own desk and began rummaging a drawer. As he did, she took the opportunity to quickly look around and memorise every detail of the room. Soon, he pulled out a single piece of paper, and turned to Teresa , who quickly whipped her head around to face him once more.

"Here you go. This is the schedule assigned to every student in class 3-A," the teacher said, handing her the piece of paper.

"Thank you, um…"

"Ah, yes. I'm Ouno Kensaku."

"Thank you, Ouno-sensei," Teresa replied, pretending to not know the teacher's name till now.

"Now, before you leave, there is something I'd like to tell you. As a student of class 3-A, you must score higher than students of other classes, as you are a 'chosen one'. If your grades drop too low, you may end up in 'The End' class, class 3-E. Those students are nothing more than the trash beneath our feet. You must stay above them if you wish to survive in the society in the future," the teacher, Ouno, said, smiling all the while.

"I understand, Ouno-sensei. I will do my best to stay at the top," Teresa said, smiling, almost shining brightly. Inside though, was a different story. She was utterly disgusted at the teacher for being able to say such things with such a happy face. Had he no sense of humanity, calling other humans trash like it was second nature? The school system acted as a ranking system, those in better classes were superior, and those in lower classes were inferior, as if they had different social statuses based on which class they were in. How degrading. It also seemed that this man cared for his reputation than his students.

'Well, too bad I'm aiming to get into class 3-E,' Teresa thought to herself, keeping the smile on her face despite the fact that she was so disgusted, she was tempted to kill him. But she controlled herself, an assassin doesn't kill out of spite. The teacher nodded in approval, smirking, like he had done the greatest thing in the world and was arrogantly proud of it. He then continued preaching about being in class 3-A, to which Teresa half-heartedly listened, before her eyes averted towards the entrance of the staffroom.

'…Why are there people standing at the door? And there are five of them…' she thought to herself. While the teacher had been speaking, she had heard faint footsteps growing louder, before stopping outside the door. And judging by their breathing, she predicted there were five of them. It seemed that they had followed her and the teacher. Her eyes narrowed slightly towards the door, before looking back at the teacher upon hearing him call her name.

"Do you understand now, Amano-san?"

"Yes, sir. I apologise for having taken up your time. I shall return to class now, I don't want to be late for class."

"Oh, it's no problem. And I agree, do hurry along now, we can't have you late for class on your first day," the teacher said. Bowing slightly, she turned around and headed for the door. Sliding the door open, she stepped out, sighing slightly before closing the door behind her. Turning to her right, she pretended to be surprise by the appearance of the five people.

"Pleasure to meet you, Amano-san," Gakushuu said, smiling at her.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, um…"

"Ah, my name is Asano Gakushuu, the student council president of Kunugigaoka Junior High, and I'm ranked first in school," he said in the most gentlemanly manner, before taking her hand in his and lightly brushing his lips on top of it. Teresa's widened slightly in surprise, her cheeks uncharacteristically turning a little pink as she watched Gakushuu raise his head, smirking slightly at her.

"As the student council president, I thought I'd give you a proper welcome," he said smoothly, still smirking, his hand still holding hers. Teresa let out a nervous laugh, before pulling her hand from his.

"I-I see. Still, I don't think there was a need to do _that_ ," she replied, the pink still on her cheeks as she gave a nervous smile. No one, absolutely no one, has ever treated her that way before. She had suspected he would try to win her over to make her his minion or something, but not like this! Gakushuu simply gave her a smile.

"The four students behind me, along with myself are the top five students in the school," he said, gesturing to the four behind him, who then stepped forward.

"I'm Araki Teppei, the Media Club President. My best subject is Social Studies, and I'm ranked second in the school," the bespectacled guy said, pushing up his glasses as he introduced himself. Teresa mentally scoffed at how smug he sounded.

"I'm Sakakibara Ren, the student council secretary. My best subject is humanities, and I'm ranked third in the school. Let's get along," the next guy said, brushing his fingers through his locks as he leaned over, getting too close for comfort. Teresa's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

'Great, a flirtatious one that knows no bounds and enters people's personal bubble,' Teresa mentally cursed her luck, keeping the nervous smile from before as she took a step back, increasing the distance between them once more, watching Ren wilt slightly at the act.

"I'm Koyama Natsuhiko, the Biology Club President. My best subject is science, and I'm ranked fifth. Also, my memorization abilities are second to none! Gishishishi," the guys with the creepy hairdo said, ending off with an even creepier laugh. Teresa laughed nervously, before thinking to herself, 'Second to none, huh? We'll see about that.'

"And I'm Seo Tomoya, speaker of the student council. My best subject is Language Arts, and I'm ranked sixth. I lived in Los Angeles for a year before, hence my English speaking skills are the best in this school," the last guy said, smirking arrogantly.

"I see…" Teresa replied, not impressed in the least. He may have learned from an English-speaking country for a year, but she had learned English from when she was born, before she had even become an assassin!

"The five of us are the Five Virtuosos, the sun that illuminates this school," Gakushuu exclaimed, smirking proudly. Was that supposed to impress her? Because it seemed nothing more that boastful arrogance. Teresa smiled as she walked past them, her arms behind her back with her hands conjoined.

"I see. Shall we continue this speech as we walk to class? I wish not to be late," she said, turning only her head to face them, flashing a cute smile. The five silently complied, staring at the girl in front of them. Gakushuu watched her, like a hawk stalking its prey, thinking about how to put her under his control, before realising Ren leaning over slightly towards him.

"Oi, Asano-kun, what was that just now? You've never done that to any girl before," he whispered, not wanting Teresa to hear him.

"From the looks of it, she seems like a rich daddy's girl. No doubt she is treated like a princess at home. Give her the same treatment and we will win her over," Gakushuu replied, smirking evilly, revealing his true nature.

"You really are merciless, aren't you?" Seo said, chuckling silently. He knew his friend was evil, but he never thought he would go such lengths. He should have expected it though. The other two smirked at each other. All five of them were unaware of the fact that Teresa was watching them from the corner of her eye, listening to every word they said, fuming at the fact that they were degrading her to a simpleton. Then, she turned around to face them, walking backwards.

"Hey, I just realized, none of you are ranked fourth. Who is?" she asked. She watched in confusion as Koyama snarled while the rest snickered in response.

"Um…why are you so upset, Koyama-san?" she asked carefully, not wanting to get on his bad side.

"He lost to Akabane Karma, who is ranked fourth, and is still pretty sore about it. It would be wise to not mention it in front of him again," Gakushuu explained, smiling sweetly. Teresa nodded, making a mental note of that.

"So, is this Akabane Karma in class 3A? Shouldn't he be one of the Five Virtuosos?" she questioned further, pretending to not know who he was.

"No, unfortunately, he has been suspended for use of violence on another student, and he has been sent to class 3-E," Gakushuu replied, and Teresa raised a brow. It was short and simple, clearly leaving out the important details.

"But if he has such high ranking, couldn't one time of use of violence be easily overlooked?"

"True, except this isn't his first time. Ouno-sensei has always closed one eye towards Akabane's actions, but it was starting to affect his image, so eventually he disciplined Akabane," Gakushuu replied. She could tell it wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the entire truth either.

'As I thought, that rotten teacher only cares about his reputation,' Teresa thought, silently sighing in disappointment.

Teresa took the opportunity to observe Gakushuu, now that she saw him in person. Just like she had evaluated, he was as he appeared, excellent in academics and sports, and she could tell he was trying to crack her, figure out what she was, and make her his minion, like the rest of his class. In the looks department, he was on the same level as Karma. Although, now that she saw him in person, he really looked and had an aura similar to the chairman, the likeness was creepy.

"Say, President Asano, are you the chairman's son? Seeing as you have the same surname, not to mention you two look really alike!" Teresa asked cheerily. She watched as Gakushuu's eye twitched slightly at the mention of the chairman, before he smiled all too sweetly.

"Yes, and I get told that a lot. By the way, you don't need to be so formal. 'Asano' is just fine," he replied, quickly changing the topic as he did. Teresa nodded in understanding.

'So taking about his father is a taboo subject, huh…' she thought to herself. They don't have a close relationship, like she had suspected when she first saw their profiles.

"Oh, okay. I'm sorry. Then…is 'Asano-kun' okay?" she replied, immediately changing her way of addressing him. As Gakushuu looked at her to reply, he immediately took note of the apologetic look she had on, eyes sorrowful and empathetic, almost as if she was begging for forgiveness with her eyes.

"Sure, why not?" he replied, the confidence he had in his voice while speaking all this while fading, as he looked to the side sheepishly. He didn't understand why, but seeing that look on her face made him feel…guilty? Vulnerable? It felt something along those lines.

Soon, they reached the classroom. Sliding open the door, she entered, humming happily to herself while ignoring the looks from the other students, walking towards her table. Sitting down, she looked out the window, hearing the shuffling of footsteps as student s returned to their seats upon seeing their teacher enter. After bowing and greeting the teacher, Teresa, with her textbook and notebook on the table, didn't bother to look at the teacher as he began lessons. Without looking down, she began writing down on her notebook all the important pointers the teacher mentioned. She didn't even need to pay attention to do that much, in all honesty.

Whenever the teacher had his back turned onto the class, Gakushuu averted his eyes from the board and towards Teresa, and every time he did, she was always looking out the window while her hand worked away, writing on her notebook. He raised an eyebrow, wondering how on earth she could do that. It was different from typing on a keyboard without looking: after typing for a while, your body would remember which key was what letter, but to write without looking, and on top of that, without making a mess. It didn't help that she didn't seem to be listening, but was still able to take notes. He wasn't appalled, oh no, he was amused. Oh so amused.

At first glance, she seemed like a delicate girl, who would have trouble keeping up with the class, and would need to rely on her father to get tutors to obtain the kind of results she got, but now, looking at her, she looked like a completely different person, effortlessly jotting down notes without paying much attention to the teacher. Different from the impression she gave him when they conversed outside.

This time, as he averted his eyes back onto the board, Teresa tore her glance away from the window to Gakushuu. She had felt him stare her way at least five times now, and it was getting on her nerves. She definitely hadn't blown her cover, nor made herself suspicious in the least bit. So why did keep looking at her direction, like he suspected something. You'd think after years of pointing and staring would make her immune to the irritation she was feeling right now, but it clearly didn't. Her eyes turned back to face the window, refusing to let anyone to see her façade breaking, as a slight scowl appeared on her face, her eyebrow twitching slightly. Her grip on her writing utensil tightened slightly as a means of calming herself down.

Soon, the class ended, and the teacher left. Once the teacher was out of sight, a group of students swarmed Teresa, much to her annoyance.

"Amano-san, is it true you scored full marks for all subjects for your entrance examination?" one of the female students asked excitedly. Teresa flashed a bright smile to hide her true emotions.

"Yes, it is true! I was quite shocked myself! I hadn't expected to score that high, much less to get full marks," Teresa replied. Technically, it wasn't a lie.

"Wow, you must be the first student in our school's history to have scored full marks for the school's entrance examination! Even Asano-kun was one mark away from achieving full marks!" one of the male students exclaimed, not noticing that the comment seemingly annoyed Gakushuu, who stilled upon hearing the remark.

"Oh, is that so…" Teresa replied, unsure of what sure she should say. Conversing with people younger than her or around her age, other than Edward and Gid's biological daughters, was something she could never claim to be good at. Mostly because their conversations annoyed her, or she didn't feel obliged to tell them. She had an easier time conversing with people who were older than her, because it was always easier to see through their intentions, which were usually very much corrupted, and children younger than six are usually really innocent.

After conversing with a few more students, all speaking ceased as the next teacher entered. After another two more lessons, it was time for lunch. Not feeling hungry, Teresa remained seated as the rest of the students got up to head out to eat. She politely rejected any student who came over to invite her to eat with them. When the classroom was void of students, Gakushuu went up to Teresa. Sensing him approach her, she looked up to face him the ever sweet smile present on her face.

"Ah! Asano-kun!" Teresa exclaimed cheerfully. Gakushuu smiled in response, a fake smile, that is.

"Amano-san, since it your first day and all, I thought, as Student Council President, I'd show you around the campus. If you don't mind, that is," Gakushuu said. Teresa nodded in agreement, and followed him out of the classroom.

'I was planning to explore around after school, but this is better, I guess,' Teresa thought to herself, as she followed Gakushuu show her to science labs, computer labs, the library, the school gym, outdoor track, different sport fields and the school swimming pool. The tour didn't last as long as she thought it would.

As they approached the school building, she turned to face Gakushuu and asked, "Say, are students allowed at the rooftop? I'd like to go up here and take a look," she gave a pleading look to Gakushuu.

"Sure, I'll accompany you," Gakushuu replied, showing her the way to the staircase that led to the rooftop. Opening the door at the top of the stairs, a strong gust of wind blew past them both, causing them both to shut their eyes for a moment. They then walked out to the open, reaching the fence that surrounded the rooftop. She stared down from where she was, taking note of the fact that she could see every last detail from up there. Darting her eyes around, she spotted a camera at the door they entered from. She internally groaned, of course there would be security up here. Looking around, she noticed a mountain, and on the very top, was a mini, wooden campus.

"Say, I noticed that I didn't see a single 'E' class in the school campus. Where is their class?" she asked, not looking at Gakushuu.

He walked to her and pointed at the very mountain she was staring at, "Over there. Students in 'the End' class do not belong in the campus. They have to have lesson in that tiny campus on that mountain, and besides lunch time or school assemblies, it is against the school rules for them to come down here to the main campus during school hours," he explained, and Teresa felt more disgusted then before. They treated students from lower classes like a disease, it was degrading and inhuman.

She narrowed her eyes, and could see a flash of yellow through one of the windows. Her smile dimmed and her once jolly look turned into an expressionless one, the same one she always had when she was on the job, and she could feel her bloodlust growing, but managed to keep it hidden at the same time. Now that her target was in sight, she felt more determined about completing the mission. She snapped out of her thoughts when the bell suddenly started ringing.

"We should probably return, since the bell just rang," Gakushuu suggested, turning towards the door. Teresa turned her head to face him, about to speak when another gust of wind blew past, causing his bangs to sweep along with the wind, making Teresa's stomach churn at the sight. She swallowed hard and pushed away those feeling that began to arouse in her. She hated to admit it, but he looked rather debonair at that moment. Nonetheless, she did her best to ignore it.

"Yeah, let's go. I'd be troubled if I caused you to be late for a lesson," she replied, giving him a quick smile, before briskly walking past him and to the stairs.

She internally scolded herself, 'Such feelings are unnecessary, focus on the mission. You're not here to admire boys,' As she speed-walked down the hallways, Gakushuu was right behind her, effortlessly keeping up with her, staring at her with a perfectly arched eyebrow. He had noticed how she immediately walked past him with her head cast downwards, as if refusing to face him.

As soon as she entered the class, she quickly took her seat and looked out of the window, once again half-heartedly listening to the next teacher begin their lesson. As the following lessons resumed, she noticed that Gakushuu always answered the teacher's questions accurately, receiving much praise by the teachers and admiration by the students, and was well favoured amongst both teachers and students as they were awed by his performance in class.

But she saw there was more to it. It was all an act, he was simply using them to his advantage to improve his image. He simply wanted to stand on top of them, to rule them, to completely dominate them. He wanted to have them dancing in the palm of his hand whenever he wished. The boys respected him for his perfect academic record, the girls swooned over him for his abilities and devilishly good looks, and the teachers simply liked him, either it was because his perfect record gave them a good image as teachers or he was the chairman's son.

He saw all of them, even the other four of the Five Virtuosos, as nothing more than pawns in his game, with the chairman no doubt. It wouldn't be surprising if he was already planning to make her his flunkie, like the rest of the class. He truly was a demon, one most wouldn't be able to resist. She couldn't, wouldn't, let herself get manipulated by him, if she wanted to leave this class.

Soon, the last bell rang, indicating the end of the last lesson of the day. Gathering her stuff, she neatly arranged them in her bag, before slinging it over her shoulder. Looking out of the window once more, she nearly blanched when she saw the same limousine from this morning. She shook her head as she walked out of the classroom, she hadn't expected Gid to send a limousine to pick her up.

Reaching the ground level, she noticed a couple of male students she had spotted in class 3-C ganging up on another male student who was smaller in size compared to them, and behind him was a female student who was even shorter than him. Walking up to them, she noticed other students simply stood around, snickering silently or smirking evilly at the scene, not bothering to lift a hand to help. She frowned slightly, this school truly was the epitome of corruption. As she got closer, her eyes widened in realisation that the two were Shiota Nagisa and Kayano Kaede of class 3E.

"Say, Nagisa-kun, you seem to be pretty chummy in class 3E, don't you? Maybe it suits a loser like you perfectly," the bespectacled said, smirking evilly as Nagisa looked slightly downcast upon hearing those words. Kayano frowned, recognising the despair he held in his eyes as he prevented making eye contact with the two bullies. Teresa sighed internally, deciding to save them herself.

"Hey, that's not very polite, you know? Calling him a loser, that is," she piped up, causing the four to turn and look at her, while the surrounding spectators stared at her in obvious shock.

"You're that new transfer student, aren't you?" the bespectacled one asked, and she nodded in response.

"Huh. Then it's no surprise that you don't know. In this school, those in class 'The End' E are a bunch of misfits that are below us. They can't talk back to us if their grades are lower than ours. They are nothing more than trash," the spikey-haired one explained, a cruel smirk on their faces as Nagisa and Kayano averted their eyes from her. A shadow was cast over her eyes as her smile turned into a frown, feeling her frustration slowly approaching its peak.

"That gives you all the more less reason to insult them like that, doesn't it?" she replied, the sweetness in her voice disappearing completely and her tone harsher than she had wanted for it to be. She wasn't letting out any bloodlust, but the anger laced in her tone caused both boys to flinch, becoming visibly terrified, while Nagisa and Kayano both widened their eyes in shock. Both boys mumbled out a brief "sorry" before making a run for it. Nagisa and Kayano both stood rooted in the spot, staring at her, unsure of how to act.

Turning to the duo, she flashed her signature sweet smile, "Ah, I apologise on behalf of those two for badmouthing you, and myself for scaring you, if I did," she said softly, which seemed to help the two calm down.

"Excuse me, but that guy said you were a transfer student right? This is something that occurs on a norm. Why would you stand up for us? That's considered...well, abnormal," Kayano asked, and Teresa resisted the urge to snort.

"I may be new, but I've already heard how the system works, like, three times already. The only thing abnormal here is the system. Just because everyone else does it doesn't mean I should do it. It's my choice as to whether I want to behave the same way everyone else does, isn't it? And I'd rather not," Teresa replied honestly, watching as the two stared at her in shock and happiness.

"Thank you…this is the first time someone from the main campus has treated us this way," Nagisa said, his face lighting up slightly. Teresa smiled back and began making her way to the limousine, before hearing Nagisa call out to her.

"Hey, what's your name?" he asked, and she turned her head to face him, before replying, "Amano Teresa."

* * *

"So, what was that about?" Edward asked as he drove the limousine towards Teresa's quarters.

"What are you referring to?" she asked, looking up to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror, a blank expression on her face.

"It's not like you to voluntarily make friends with other people," he replied, staring back at her. She saw interest and anticipation in his eyes, causing her to roll hers.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Edward. They were students of the class being taught by my target, so I was just doing what was necessary for my mission, that being getting along with them. That way the students wouldn't suspect a thing, and I can 'get along' with the rest of the class when I eventually get there," she replied, Edward raising his brows. Figures. No way she would actually care about making friends.

"By the way, I'm guessing it was Gid-sama's orders for you to pick me up, but may I know why?" she asked.

"Well, he wanted you to call him immediately when school ended, and decided that if you were in the limo, no one will overhear you," Edward answered, averting his eyes from hers.

"…Why would he need me to call him? It's only my first day, I wouldn't have any progress to report," she grumbled, but took out her phone and dialled for Gid anyways.

"Urgh, why isn't he picking up?"

"You've been on the phone for five seconds, miss."

"I know that! But if he wanted me to call him so urgently, he would pick it up immediately, wouldn't he?!" she exclaimed, and Edward couldn't deny it. She redialled the number, and this time, he picked up.

"Yes?"

"It's me. What do you want, a progress report? 'Cause I don't have one."

"No, no…I wanted to ask, how was school?"

There was a long silence, and all Gid could hear was the sound of her breathing. Noticing the silence, Edward looked at Teresa through the rearview mirror once more, and saw her frowning, her emotions mixed between boredom and irritation.

"…Teresa, are you still there?" Gid asked, although he knew the answer to that.

"…Seriously? I'm here on an assassination mission, not to enjoy school life! Instead of asking about my progress, you ask how was school?!" she fumed, and Edward bit back a laugh. Watching her reprimand Gid with him being unable to win never failed to crack him up.

"But, I was curious to know how you felt towards going to school as a student, since you never have!" Gid whined childishly on the other end of the line, and Teresa rolled her eyes. How did such a childish, immature, thirty-plus year old man became the president of an organisation of assassins was beyond her.

"How I feel about is none of your concern, Gid-sama."

"Maybe, but I'm asking as your superior and father, although only in name. I have a right to know..."

Teresa let out a groan, before staring out of the window, as the events in school flashed across her mind. If she had to sum it up in one word, it would be...

"Well, school was okay, I guess…nothing much happened," she sighed out, shutting her eyes as she pinched the bridge of her nose, tilting her head backwards slightly. She hoped this appeased him, because she really wanted to hang up now. She thanked the gods when Gid muttered a disappointed "alright" and ended the call.

Putting the phone back into her pocket, she leaned back and let out a long sigh. She had created enough trouble for herself by putting a little too much effort to get into the school, she really didn't need this now.

* * *

[In the apartment]

Teresa looked up to the clock on the wall, to see that it was already half past seven. It was too late for her to start cooking now, so she would have to go out to eat. She had finished all school homework a long time ago, and had been practising her sword fighting skills in one of the rooms which she had decided to turn into a training room. Wiping her neck with a towel, she kept her training equipment and walked out of the training room.

Entering the bathroom, she shed herself of her simple training attire, which was a black singlet and a pair of black shorts. After her bath, she slipped on a simple, black, spaghetti-strapped dress. The straight neckline was right below her collarbone, and the dress was skin-tight around the chest area, before flowing out in the form of a skirt, which reached her knees. She then put on a black hoodie with elbow-long sleeves, before slipping on a pair of black, ankle-high flat boots. Grabbing a black sling bag, she quickly put in her necessities and left the house.

Fishing out her phone, she sent a quick text to Edward to inform him that she had left. When she approached the area a ramen store she wanted to go to was in, she took a left turn into a dark alley, for it was a shortcut, but didn't account for high school students to be there.

Not that it actually mattered, seeing as she would, without a doubt, be able to handle them. But she didn't want to risk getting spotted by the target if he happens to pass by.

"Hey, little lady~! What are you doing here, all by yourself~?" one of the high school students, who had multiple piercings on his ears, said, his speech slurring as he did so. Just hearing him speak, and judging from the pungent smell she detected on him, she could tell he was drunk. If that bottle of beer in his hand was anything to go by…

"Oh, I was hoping to reach a ramen store through this way, since it's faster," she replied, smiling sweetly at the male, whose pedophile-like grin turned into an angry scowl.

"Not through this way, you won't. This is our turf, no one is allowed here except for us, so get lost!" he growled, and soon, more high school students emerged from their hiding places in the darkness of the shadows cast by the walls on the sides of this alley. Teresa internally groaned, she should really save herself the trouble and leave, but she was too lazy to. It didn't help that she wasn't a very cooperative person, besides with Gid and Edward.

"…And if I don't?" she asked, giving a little smirk as she watched the male's anger reach its peak.

"Then you're dead, bitch!" he yelled, signalling the others to attack. They brought out metal pipes, chains, and pocket knives, all launching for her. She easily avoided each weapon that came her way, and was almost bored.

'Slow,' was all she thought as she dodged a kick that came flying her way. These guys really weren't worth her time, and she couldn't be bothered to retaliate, but simply avoiding their attacks was becoming a waste of time, and it didn't help that they seemed to have great stamina, for they continued this for another seven minutes non-stop. Teresa let out a silent 'oompf' as her back hit one of the walls, and they ganged up around her. She mentally cursed her lack of attention to her surroundings. One of them lift his metal pipe, ready to strike, and just when Teresa had finally decided to fight back, a palm sent the said guy flying to the side.

Eyes widening, she watched silently as the other guys got owned, thrown around and knocked unconscious. Staring at her saviour, her jaw dropped as she instantly recognised his crimson red hair and those amber gold eyes. She continued watching in shock as he grabbed the gang leader's face and smashed it against the wall opposite her.

"Ah~ don't you know it's rude to try and hit a girl just 'cause she wants to come through this way?" he said, clearly taunting the leader, who growled angrily in response, but said nothing more when his face got punched continuously, the red-haired boy laughing happily all the while. Soon, the beat-up session stopped, and the leader slumped to the ground unconsciously, the red-haired boy took the opportunity to take, or rather, empty their wallets.

"Akabane…Karma…" Teresa gasped out, finally getting over her shock. She thanked the heavens that she hadn't fought back, or her cover would be blown. Hearing her speak his name, Karma turned around to face her, his eyes, which seemed to glow in the darkness like a cat's, widening slightly before he narrowed them, a smirk settling on his lips.

"Heh, you know my name?" he asked, amusement dancing in his amber gold orbs as he approached her dangerously, his bloodlust seeping out of him. She almost laughed at his attempt to intimidate her. Almost.

"Yep! I've heard about you from my classmates in school!" she exclaimed, smiling sweetly. His smirk turned into a confused frown.

"School? You mean you're from-"

"Kunugigaoka Junior High? Yep!" she finished for him. He began to stare at her intensely, which almost made her twitch uncomfortably, but she managed to stay composed.

"I don't remember seeing you in school before, though?" he asked, raising a brow.

"That's because I just transferred into the school today," she replied, her smile still on her face. Karma nodded in understanding, before smirking at her once more.

"So, what now? Are you going to report to the police about this?"

"Whatever for? You beating up a bunch of gangsters that were attacking me and saving me in the process? I don't see anything so wrong that I should report to the police about, although I admit the beating you gave the leader was a little overkill," she chuckled, and looking at him, she could tell he was thoroughly amused.

"Aren't you afraid of me? After seeing what I had done?"

"Like I said, whatever for? You saved me, even though it may not have been your main intention. So why on earth should I be afraid?" she answered, chuckling good-heartedly as she rolled her eyes in a humoured fashion. Karma snickered along with her, before the two walked side by side to the other end of the alley.

"So, why did you decide to come through this way?" he asked, looking down at her, as she gave an uneasy smile.

"Well, I wanted to go to a certain ramen store, and it would have been faster through this alley, and I wasn't willing to take the long way, so I decided to go through here…I wasn't expecting for there to be people though," she replied, mumbling the last part more to herself than to him. Karma simply raised his brows when he heard her reply.

"Anyway, since you did save me and all, shall we have dinner together? My treat," Teresa suddenly said, smiling at a visibly shocked Karma, who immediately regained himself and smiled, replying, "Sure."

As they walked down the streets, Karma observed the girl happily walking next to him. It was a first, meeting someone, and a girl at that, not get scared seeing him beat the crap out of people. True, he had saved her in the process, but normally people will get afraid thinking they will get attacked next. However, when she looked at him, her eyes held not a single ounce of fear, but were instead so innocently bright, like she was more amazed than afraid. How she easily laughed around him and let her guard around him, he simply didn't understand it. He then silently chuckled to himself, realising he was getting all flustered over a girl. But if he had to be honest to himself, she was…interesting.

"Say, you know my name, but I don't know yours. Mind telling me?" he asked.

"Amano Teresa."

"Amano…as in CEO of Amano Corps, that Amano?"

"Yep," she replied. Gid was the CEO of Amano Corps, as well as the president of the assassin organisation, although the second occupation was a secret from the rest of the world, naturally.

"Wow…are you a third year in Kunugigaoka Junior High?" She nodded. in response.

"Which class?"

"The accelerated program, A class," she replied, and his eyes widened in surprise, before distancing himself from her slightly. Noticing that gesture, she turned to look at him, seeing a suspicious look on his face.

"…What is it?" she asked, sensing that he was suspecting her of something.

"Did Asano-kun or Ouno-sensei tell you to get close to me so that people from the main campus can mock me or something?" he asked, and Teresa's smile dropped into a frown as a shadow was cast over her eyes, before she turned her head to face ahead. It was silent for a few moments, neither sides saying anything, before Teresa spoke up.

"…Did I look like such a person to you?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly. She didn't understand why, but being thought to be such a cruel person, like those from that night, stirred insecurities in her as an assassin, and even more as a person. Noticing the change in her tonality and how her voice wavered, he felt guilt stab him. Even if they had just met, judging by how she behaved around him and how she had treated him, he should have known she wasn't that type of person.

"…Sorry, I didn't exactly have a really good history with them," he replied, unsure of what else to say. He jumped when he heard her suddenly let out a loud snort.

"No kidding, seeing how you immediately distanced yourself from me when I mentioned I was in the A class," she exclaimed nonchalantly, Karma stared at her with wide eyes, shocked and amused, before he started laughing.

"That's true."

* * *

[In the apartment]

Teresa changed out of her dress and into a simple t-shirt and shorts. She ate together with Karma at the ramen store, and spent the time chatting about his time in the main campus. Turns out that he was good friends with Nagisa before he dropped into class 3-E, but eventually Karma distanced himself from Nagisa because he had sensed something off, about him. Teresa guessed that meant he sensed the hidden bloodlust within Nagisa. It also turns out his suspension was ending within four to five days.

Teresa settled on the couch, leaning against the backrest. The day had been rather eventful, meeting four out of the six people she was concerned about. She certainly didn't expect to meet both Nagisa and Karma on the same day, in the same type of situation, but with her in different positions. She saved Nagisa, and she was saved by Karma.

Opening her laptop, she decided to make a face to face conversation with Gid.

"Well, this is rare. You don't usually make the first move to call without my orders. What's the matter?" Gid said, staring at her with an amused expression.

"Well, I thought I'd give a report. Firstly, I haven't made contact with the target, but I have with three students in the class he's teaching. Secondly, how does the chairman know how Sephie looks like?"

"…We have met before at several banquets, but you've never attended any of them, so…" he trailed off, not knowing what else to say. Teresa remained silent for a while, before speaking up once more.

"Well, that's all I have to report for today. Good night, Gid-sama," she said, before ending the call before Gid could protest. Shutting her laptop, she stretched her arms behind her back as she stood up and walked to the giant sliding window, staring out at the night sky. Her eyes settled on the crescent moon, and frowned. Although it had become like that permanently for a while now, she couldn't stand how it constantly reminded her of her loss, for it looked exactly the same back then.

It was only the first day, and things were so hectic already. She could only guess what would happen for the next one year she continues this mission, and how she would deal with the demons residing with her in the school.

Well, not that it would be a problem. She tamed and eliminated demons tougher than them, and she was pretty much a demon herself.

* * *

 **Hope you liked it! Please do review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	3. A Grave Mistake, Unwanted Outcomes Made

**Hello, people. I'm so sorry for the super late update. Actually, my original draft was so long, as I continued, I didn't think I want it to be too long, and in the end, I decided to split it into two different chapters. This is the first half, the second half will be the next chapter, which would most likely come out in two to three days. Hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or it's characters. Just certain parts of the plot.**

* * *

Chapter 3: A Grave Mistake, Unwanted Outcomes Made

Gakushuu was walking down the down the hallways of the main campus, pondering. Over what? The new girl, apparently. It's been about a week since she had transferred into the school, and he couldn't help but constantly watch her.

He had witnessed, and overheard, her as she had chased off the two goons from class 3-C that were taunting Shiota Nagisa and Kayano Kaede, when he was leaving the school building. The sharp tone that she had used for that one short moment had utterly shocked him, and in that moment he knew: she wasn't the person she had led everyone to think she was. He was sure there was more to her than her sweet smiles and kind attitude. He just wished he could see through the walls that surrounded her.

During the time she had been here after her transfer, he had worked with her a few times on class assignments, making sure it wasn't too often that he did, so as to try and crack her without revealing his true intentions, but every time he did, he found himself at a dead end, for he couldn't read her mind at all. He wondered if the same applied to his father, who was just as good at reading people as he was.

On top of that, one of the male students from another class had told him that he had happened to stumble upon the scene of her walking on the streets with Akabane Karma, one of the few people he had not expected her to get along with. According to that eye witness, they looked quite chummy together.

Upon entering the classroom, he was greeted by multiple students, to whom he kindly returned the gesture. As he placed his bag on his desk, his eyes settled on Teresa, who was smiling brightly and chatting away with the rather large group of students, which included both boys and girls, that had surrounded her desk.

Despite gossips of her saving a couple of class 3-E students spreading across the campus like wildfire, she was still rather well-liked by the students. Although some were clearly just trying to get close to her for their own benefit.

As she turned her head, her travelling eyes landed on him, and she immediately waved her hand from where she was sitting and gave a cute smile, exclaiming rather loudly, "Ah! Morning, Asano-kun!"

Hearing her speak his name, everybody who was crowding around her turned to face him, and immediately left from around her desk towards him, bombarding him with greetings. Slightly appalled, he averted his eyes from her for a few moments to look at his classmates that now surrounded him, smiling while returning their greeting in his usual charming manner.

When he turned back to look at her, he found her resting her chin on her hand as her head was turned away from him, slumping her shoulders while staring out of the window. He raised his eyebrows in amusement. Did she seriously just purposely call out to him to divert their attention from her to him?

* * *

Teresa stared at the mountain where her target was on as she sighed inwardly. When she had arrived this morning, she was instantly surrounded by the same annoying group that came to her every day since she arrived in this school, and groaned inwardly as she communicated with them with well-faked enthusiasm. She could seriously do without all the attention she received.

When she had went back to school on the second day, she instantly noticed how many gave her a quick glance before turning their backs on her, speaking amongst themselves in hushed whispers. She sharpened her ears and narrowed her eyes slightly, but almost unnoticeably, when she heard them mention whether or not she was the one who defended the two students from class 3-E.

She almost rolled her eyes, and restrained herself not to snort out loud when she heard them. This school had some serious issues, both with the students and the teachers. While she spoke to her classmates, she had never been more relieved and happy to see Gakushuu enter the classroom. She quickly greeted him so as to divert their attention away from her. She was almost grateful for his existence if it weren't for the fact that he had been trying to see through her.

She had noticed, that he took the initiative to ask her to pair up with him for class assignments a few times already, using the excuse of her being new and needing time to adjust to the class and her classmates. But when they worked together, she sensed every now and then he would try to discreetly stare intensely at her, clearly trying to figure out her true self. She wanted to roll her eyes at his attempts. How could he ever hope to understand her, when she didn't even understand herself...

The only good thing that came out of this week was that she had been able to obtain more information on the target by spying on him during her breaks and for short periods of time after school. She found out that the students addressed him as 'Korosensei', he has a weird obsession with make thing ridiculously clean and used his speed on a daily basis to avoid attacks and travel around. Apparently, he was rather free-spirited for a state secret.

Staring out of the window, she ignored the feeling of Gakushuu staring at her once more as she focused her attention on the small wooden campus on top of the mountain. She narrowed her eyes, sharpening her vision and spotted her target moving around on the field at ridiculously fast speeds as the students of that class tried to attack him in an early morning frontal assault.

She bit back a laugh at their futile efforts. Did they seriously expect to even land a hit on him with a upfront attack? He'd obviously be able to see them coming. Looking around on the field, she spotted a man in his late twenties standing in a spot, his arms folded as he seemed to be speaking, no doubt advising them on how they should attack. She immediately guessed that was Karasuma Tadaomi.

She quickly turned away from the mountain, not wanting to stare too long and let her target sense her staring at him. As she directed her face towards the board, she jumped in surprise and gasped, nearly falling out of her seat when she saw Gakushuu in front of her, staring at her with slightly widened eyes.

She took a quick breath as she gave her usual smile, "My, Asano-kun, what's the matter?" At this, he raised both eyebrows in amusement.

"'What's the matter'? I had been calling out your name a while now and you didn't reply even once," he replied, and she let out a light gasp as she covered her lips with the tips of her fingers, lowering her gaze as she turned slightly pale.

"O-Oh, is that so? I'm so sorry, I was so caught up in my thoughts I didn't notice," she replied apologetically. Her paling wasn't an act, but it wasn't because she was sorry, but because she was she panicking at herself.

She was mentally cursing and scolding herself, for being too focused on observing her target to the point she lost all awareness to her surroundings, and for letting her guard down in the class she was currently in with one of the two people she had reminded herself to look out for. She should have known better than to direct her complete and total attention away from the class, and yet she did.

"So, why were you calling for me?" she asked, looking up at him once more. He gave his usual smile upon hearing those words.

"Are you aware of the gossips about you that have spread throughout the campus?" he asked, his tone slightly serious. Teresa almost broke her façade when she heard his words. Was she aware? She had already seen it coming when she stood up for Nagisa and Kayano!

"Yeah, sort of. I heard some people talking about it," she replied, staring right into his eyes, and knew what he was getting at. He was trying to find out more about her based on her answer.

"So it's true that you defended two students from class 3-E?" She simply nodded in response, keeping a small smile on her face.

"Why would you do that? Students in the main campus should focus on improving themselves, not worry about others, much less hose from the E class. You'll fall behind," he explained, a hint of worry, well, fake worry in his tone as he spoke. She nearly scoffed at his words. Those were the least of her worries, and even if they weren't, she has pretty much finished learning everything this school has to offer, and more if necessary, after finding out about their spartan exams from some of her classmates, who had been kind enough to fill her in.

"I just thought that those students from class 3-C were being unnecessarily cruel. I agree that we should focus on ourselves in order to improve our grades, but how does that justify those who insult students from class 3-E? If you don't like them, you could just ignore them. Yet they decided to make fun of them and even criticise them. It seems almost as if unless they do so, they are the ones that feel insecure about losing their rank in school and inferior to the students of class 3-E. If they were truly worried about their position in the main campus, I think they are better off spending the time that they waste criticizing the students of class 3-E on studying and improving their grades, don't you?"

Asano was stunned speechless. He had expected her to reveal at the very least a pinch of her true self through her answer, but she replied so smoothly, without even a hint of hesitation, as if it were her true thoughts, and it simply amplified her kind and gracious attitude.

On top of that, he couldn't help but agree with her: she was right. The system was about those in the main campus being superior to those in class E, not insulting them to make you feel better about yourself. And if they really wanted to stay at the top, they simply needed to study hard and achieve the results they need or want.

"...I see. I guess I agree with you on that point," he replied, making an indifferent expression. He was irritated that he couldn't find anything out about her, but managed to keep a neutral face. However, Teresa saw the truth in his eyes, which revealed everything. She simply smiled and nodded knowingly.

"Right? Oh, you should go back to your seat, the teacher's coming," she quickly said, as she spotted the teacher walking towards the classroom door. Nodding in agreement, he hurried back into his seat, just in time before the teacher entered.

During class, Gakushuu paid attention to the teacher with half a mind, the other half pondering over what else he should do to find out about Teresa. Soon, it was time for physical education. After changing into their sports attire, their PE teacher separated the girls and boys.

"The boys will practice soccer, while the girls will do jogging," he had said, and Gakushuu decided to focus on the game, sparing her a glance every now and then, observing her as frequently as he could.

When she heard that the girls were only going to jog on the track, Teresa felt immensely dissatisfied. She wanted to do a more vigorous exercise, not some dumb jog that barely lets her legs get a decent workout. Guess the girls in the main campus cared more about their studies than their fitness. Some could really use a loss of calories…

Letting out a disappointed sigh, she followed the rest of the girls onto the track and began a slow jogging pace, letting herself be positioned right in the middle of the stretch of girls, so as to not reveal her physical capabilities.

As she continued jogging, she blocked out the sound of some of the girls who were chatting while running on the track and focussed on keeping her pace. All of a sudden, the bright and sunny view of the school turned dark. Thick smoke and sparks, the result of a couple of explosions, rose into the dark night sky, blocking out the stars, leaving the crescent moon to be the only source of light. Anguished screams of pain, fear and horror echoed throughout the area as multiple people were cut down by blades and shot down by guns, limply falling to the ground around her into growing puddles of crimson red liquid, lifeless. In front of her were a man and a woman, both lavishly dressed in expensive clothing that had been stained scarlet. The woman, with a smile as bright as one at near death could give, with tears streaming down her cheeks, mouthed out a few words. Then they both laid on the ground, eyes dull and void of life.

Teresa's eyes started twitching as her lips trembled at the awfully familiar sight that resurfaced in her memories, one she wished she could completely erase from her memories. She felt her heart rate skyrocketing and her breathing become erratic, almost hyperventilating, as she felt herself pick up her speed, running past everything, almost sprinting ahead. Her pupils constricted and dilated rapidly, adrenaline pumping through her veins, as she focused only on the path ahead. She could feel herself breaking out into cold sweat, and the familiar feeling of heavy-headedness creep up to her as she felt bile rising up in her throat, threatening to spill out. Stuck in her hallucination, she jolted and snapped out of her reverie when she heard an unfamiliar male's voice shout.

"LOOK OUT!" She whipped her head to the direction of the owner of that voice, finding herself face to face with a black and white ball that was inches away from her face, the distance decreasing as it approached her. As the adrenaline was still in her veins, as soon as her right foot touched the ground, she immediately pushed herself backwards, moving her head out of the way a second before it made contact with her face.

As the ball swept past her face, she flipped herself backwards into a somersault, using her right foot, which shot upwards after using it to push herself off the ground, to kick the ball while she was upside down in midair, on pure instinct and impulse. When she did, she couldn't control her strength due to her still-panicky state and used about a tenth of her full strength.

Because of the abnormal amount of strength she possessed, unless she was on the job, she usually never used more than three percent of her strength. Any more than that amount, if used on a person, could kill them instantly.

Hence she caused the ball to zip across the soccer field the boys were using so quickly, it seemed to have disappeared halfway, and reappeared spinning against the net of the goalpost, that just so happened to be the goalpost of Gakushuu's team.

As the ball spun against the net, it quickly began to form so much smoke, it engulfed the ball, as the part of the net that was in contact with the ball began turning black, before dissipating to ash, allowing the ball to pass through the newly formed hole and into the wall that was a few meters behind it, crashing into it and engraving its shape into that wall. The ball had stopped spinning by then, but smoke continued to rise from it.

Teresa turned back upright from her flip, her heart beat and breathing slowing down, and as her right foot approached the ground, realisation of the mistake she had just made dawned on her, causing her to lose her focus.

Which led her to realise her second mistake, as she landed on the side of her foot, her body weight pressing down on it, causing a sickening crack to be heard as she let out a pained, yet silent, gasp, immediately bending down to the ground, clutching tightly onto her ankle, gritting her teeth as hard as she could to prevent her scream of pain from being let out. She bent her head downwards, allowing her fringe and bangs to curtain her face, avoiding anyone and everyone from seeing what kind of expression she had on her face.

Gakushuu, whose eyes followed the ball when it flew out of court, captured every single detail of Teresa's reaction, and was dumbfounded by the sight of her lightning quick reactions and the ball making its mark in the wall. He definitely did not see that coming. She was the last person he would have expected to be able to dodge a flying ball and return it to the court a dozen times as hard. She never came across as strong in his mind.

Watching her bend down, he snapped out of his shock and quickly rushed over to her side, as did other students, boys and girls. Kneeling down on one knee beside her, he bent over to try and get a glimpse of her face, which he failed to do so.

"Amano-san, are you alright?" he asked, truly concerned, only slightly, but nonetheless concerned. Teresa didn't reply for a few moments, which served to worry Gakushuu more, before she lifted her head, just enough for the lower half of her face to be uncovered by her bangs, revealing a small smile.

"...Yeah, I'm fine. This level of injury is nothing, so...so don't worry about me," she replied in a soft voice.

It was true, for during the first few years she had started that line of work, there were times she got careless and suffered injuries far worse than this. There was even a time she had been impaled through her stomach, and even though she lost a generally large amount of blood, thanks to her rather quick recuperation capabilities, that wound closed up after a couple of hours, and all she needed was blood transfusion to refill the blood she lost. Thanks to those experiences, she developed a rather high tolerance to pain.

However, she refused to turn and face him, because she was anything but alright. Gakushuu was on her left side, and her left eye was covered by her fringe, preventing eye contact from being made.

But Gakushuu knew better. He had noticed how her lips were pressed together tightly into a thin line when she smiled and how her lower lip trembled ever so slightly when she spoke, not to mention the few droplets of sweat that dotted her cheek and neck. He could tell she was lying about being alright. What he didn't know was that she wasn't alright because she was getting flashbacks of that night, not because she was in pain. He would worry about what she had just said later, but, as the student council president and a classmate, what he should do right now was...

"Are you alright, Amano-san?!" The PE teacher exclaimed, genuinely worried about her. He was also taken aback by what he saw, but her condition took priority over his mountain of questions. She turned to him and gave him a closed eye smile.

"Yes, sensei. Sorry to make you worry. If you would excuse me, I'll just walk over to the- wha-wha-wha-! What are you-?!" she stuttered, exclaiming in surprise as a muscular, yet lean pair of arms carried her into a princess hold, which she didn't pay much attention to, her previous fears temporarily forgotten as her mind struggled to adjust to her current situation. Turning her head, her eyes widened in shock when she saw that it was Gakushuu.

"A-Asano-kun, why..." she stuttered, not expecting him of all people to have helped her, if it were his true intentions.

"Sensei, since Amano-san has clearly hurt her ankle, I shall bring her to the nurse's office. Please excuse us for the rest of lesson," Gakushuu told the teacher, smoothly avoiding Teresa's question. The teacher gave permission without hesitation and Gakushuu left the field, the gazes of the students from the rest of the class, and those who happened to have watched the scene from their classrooms, in pursuit of them, hot on their tails. The gazes varied between shock, surprise, amusement, anger, jealousy and awe, for both boys and girls.

As Gakushuu walked down the hallways, Teresa turned her head away from him, avoiding eye contact. Mainly because she didn't want him to see her while she was still in a mentally vulnerable state, but also due to one other reason.

"Um, Asano-kun? Could...could you maybe, like, put me down now? I can manage walking by myself, so you need not trouble yourself any further..." she said sheepishly, trailing off at the end, causing Gakushuu to look down at her while raising a brow.

"You shouldn't stress your leg, it could worsen the injury. And besides, you're not troubling me at all, after all, I chose to...do this," he replied, subtly referring to him carrying her without mentioning it aloud.

"I understand that, but it's fine if I lean on you for support, isn't it? Besides, I thought maybe you wouldn't want any more attention than we have already received," she replied. It wasn't a lie, while he carried her towards the school clinic, she noticed how many students were now watching them through the windows on the walls that lined the hallways, and even some teachers were staring at them instead of getting their students to focus on the lesson.

"It's fine, there's no harm done. Why are you so desperate to get down?" She remained silent, not wanting to tell him the truth. If he, or the nurse, were to tend to her, she would need to remove her leggings that she wore underneath her PE shorts. Which meant it would reveal evidence to her line of work.

If she were to go by herself, she would be able to tend to herself without anyone supervising her, but clearly Gakushuu wasn't letting that happen any time soon.

"It's because...I don't wish for people watching us to get the wrong idea. I'm pretty sure that this-" she gestured to their current situation,"-is going to cause lots of rumours to spread, and that would not be appreciated by both you and me."

Gakushuu pondered on what she said for a moment. He knew without a doubt that she was right, the students were probably already gossiping about this. As student council president, he couldn't afford to allow such trivial matters to affect the students' studies, and as for himself, although he usually didn't show it, he couldn't stand the kind of rumours about him that spread around the school, at least those not revolving around him being a wonderful student.

For Teresa's case, she probably already had a lot on her plate as the new transfer student, so it's natural she didn't want any more trouble for herself. At least that would be accurate if it weren't for the fact that she found the very fact that she had to even transfer into this school troublesome.

"Alright, I'll put you down." She let out a silent sigh. "But I'm still accompanying you to the nurse's office."

She simply nodded in response and the two walked side by side for the rest of the trip to the school clinic. After a while, Gakushuu finally spoke up.

"Still, I'm quite surprised by your athletic capabilities," he said, causing her to freeze up slightly, before immediately regaining her composure.

"What makes you say that?"

"Please, you and I both know I saw what happened earlier. Besides, you were faster than the fastest female runner in our class, and she is the fastest runner in school, well, second to me of course," he replied, causing Teresa to pale slightly. She had not noticed or sensed him watching her, and her panic caused her to reveal a portion of her true strength. She turned to him and gave a nervous smile.

"Is that so? I...didn't realise."

"Mind explaining why you as strong as you are?"

"Well, I got…kidnapped, multiple times when I was younger, so my father decided to train me to make me stronger, at least enough to escape my kidnappers," she replied.

It wasn't a complete lie. When word got out that she was adopted by Gid, many individuals wanted to use her to their advantage and hired some hitmen to kidnap her. Unfortunately for them, she had already begun her assassin training by then and all of them met an unexpected and humiliating end by the hands of a six year old girl.

"Hence your incredible leg strength?" She nodded.

"I see..." She faced ahead, but her eyes were on him. She knew that she had revealed too much, and he was getting close to finding out what kind of person she was. This was really bad. She needed to get transferred to class 3-E as soon as possible.

Soon they reached the nurse's office, and Gakushuu excused himself to return to class. Looking around, she noticed how the nurse wasn't present and there was a tiny camera at one corner of the room. She silently tsked, of course this wouldn't be easy.

Rummaging through the cupboards, she found the first aid kit and an ankle guard. She walked over to one side of the beds and closed the curtain around it, blocking her from the camera's view. Sitting on the bed, she pulled up her leggings and removed her sock and shoe.

When she did, she saw the familiar injuries that had already healed over time, faint but still yet very visible. Running her fingers over a certain cut, her eyes lost its light as the flashbacks threatened to return. She shut her eyes instantly, shaking her head, clearing her mind of those thoughts. She then directed her focus to her ankle.

The skin around her ankle was already turning a dark blue-black and her ankle was clearly dislocated. She grabbed her foot and forcibly moved it to the side, relocating it. She then applied some cream onto the bruise that formed before bandaging it. Then she put on her sock and then the ankle guard over it.

Slipping her shoe on, she experimentally rested her weight on it. There was a of pain, but nothing she couldn't handle. -As she placed the first aid kit back to where she took it from, a lady entered the room, no doubt the nurse.

"Hello, dear. I heard from Asano-kun about your ankle. It seems you have already treated it, but I'd advise you to rest here for a while before returning to class," she said.

"Alright, but I need to use the toilet. May I be excused?"

"Sure. Be careful not to strain you ankle!" she called out after Teresa, who already made her way out.

Entering the ladies' toilet, she quickly entered the cubicle right at the end and locked the door behind her. Since this cubicle was at the end, it was right next to the wall of the toilet, where there was a window that led to the back of the school.

Unbeknownst to the school, everyday, she had excused herself to the toilet at least once to sneak out and go to the top of that hill to spy on her target and his class.

Climbing up to the window, she opened it and slipped out. Quickly scanning her surroundings, seeing that there was no one in sight, she quickly sped across the area that separated the campus and the forest that surrounded the hill. Entering the forest, she began jumping from tree to tree, zipping across the forest as silently as she could. Seeing the clearing up ahead, she quickly climbed up a tall fir tree, and upon reaching the top, she quickly concealed her presence and all trace of bloodlust as she watched the scene unravel before her.

She silently observed Karasuma avoiding Isogai's and Maehara's combined knife attacks with ease, pushing their arms out of the way before they are able o land a hit on him. Letting out a sigh, Teresa knew that he could already see how they were going to go at him with each attack they made, being a pro and all. Even she could see their attack pattern after the first couple of seconds. She had to admit though, Karasuma was fast, faster than she had anticipated. Seeing the three of them stop moving and looking towards the sandbox, she nearly blanched when she noticed her target had changed in traditional clothes, brewed tea, and was sitting next to an Osaka castle that was built out of sand. She sweatdropped at the sight. He really was a carefree…being for a worldwide assassination target. Soon, they stopped their 2-on-1 session and she heard Karasuma dismiss the class.

With that, they ended PE and began walking back into the campus. Sugino and Nagisa were chatting about an assassination plan. As they approached the stairs, Nagisa stopped walking and talking when his eyes settled on the person standing at the top of the stairs, clad in the school blouse and a black jacket, and the grey school pants, one hand in a pocket and the other holding a carton of strawberry milk. A gust of wind blew past, sending the person's crimson red locks flying freely in the wind.

"Yo. Been a little long time, hasn't it, Nagisa-kun?" the said person asked, revealing his sharp fangs. Nagisa's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at their newcomer.

"Karma-kun, you're back!" He simply gave a closed eye smile. He then directed his attention towards their unusual-looking teacher.

"Heh~ That's the rumoured Korosensei?" he exclaimed excitedly, before walking down the steps and through the students towards their teachers. Karma let out a chuckle as he neared Korosensei. "Wow, he really looks like an octopus!"

"Akabane Karma-kun, was it? It seems you have returned from your suspension! But being late on your first day of school is unacceptable!" Korosensei exclaimed, his face turning purple with an 'X' on it. Teresa raised her eyebrows. If it weren't for the fact that he was her target, she would have found him hilarious. Hearing Karma let out a nervous laugh, she sharpened her eyes and ears once more.

"I'm sorry about that. It's a little difficult to swing back into motion with these rules. For now, feel free to call me by my first name. Nice to meet you, Teach," he said, raising the hand that was originally in his pocket towards Korosensei, initiating a handshake. Teresa narrowed her eyes, noticing the tiny strips made from a very familiar looking material on his hand. Realising what they were, she raised a brow when her target lifted his...tentacle? To return the handshake.

'Did he not notice?' she thought to herself as she continued looking on. Korosensei's tentacle-like hand wrapped around Karma's.

"Likewise. Let's make this a fun year-" he got cut off when his hand exploded. Breaking out into cold sweat, his eyes widened in shock and fear. "Wha-!"

Not wasting a single second, Karma dropped his carton of strawberry milk, revealing an anti-Korosensei knife, its blade cut up into a small and sharp spear-like blade, tucked in his sleeve. Eyes flashing with killing intent, he swung his hand across. Korosensei quickly moved far behind Karma with his rumoured speed.

"Heh~ You really are as fast as they say. And this knife really does work. I tried cutting one up and stuck these pieces on my hand, but-" Karma lifted his hand towards his face, staring at the tiny strips that were stuck on his palm, before turning his palm towards Korosensei.

"-to think you would have fallen for such a simple trick," he continued, slipping both hands into his pockets as his whole body faced Korosensei,"and for you to jump all the way back there, are you a scaredy cat?" He slowly made his way towards the teacher.

Teresa watched how all the students were shocked at the spectacle. She guessed he must have been the first one to have managed to hurt the target. She silently mused as Korosensei regenerated his tentacle.

'Instant regeneration abilities, huh?'

"I heard you're called 'Korosensei' because you are unkillable, in other words, 'korosenai'," Karma stood in front of Korosensei, who backed away slightly. Karma then bent over to face the teacher from underneath, a smug look on his face.

"My, sensei, could it be you're a pushover, after all?" he mocked tauntingly, causing Korosensei's face to turn red with fury, several veins popped.

Teresa was sorely tempted to laugh. Of course, Karma would be able to, even if it were temporary, outsmart Korosensei and get under his skin. He was intelligent, after all. He simply enjoyed using that smartness of his to butt heads with others.

"Nagisa, what kind of person is Karma-kun?" Kayano asked as sue approached Nagisa, both of which whose eyes never leaving the scene before them.

"We were in the same class during our first and second year here, but then his continued violent behaviour earned him an expulsion and those students end up in the E class too. But now, he just might be the star of the class," Nagisa replied, eyes filled with the admiration he seemed to always had for the said boy.

"Why?"

"When it comes to foul play and deadly weapons, Karma-kun has us all beat," Nagisa answered, as he watched Karma flip his knife around in such complicated movements so smoothly, it almost looked easy. Shoving both hands into his pockets, he walked away from Korosensei and towards the campus, his bloodlust spiking with his excitement.

'Don't you dare run away, Korosensei. I will show you what it means to be killed.'

Hearing the school bell ring, Teresa jumped off the tree and quickly crossed the forest back to the wall with the still open window. Quickly slipping into the cubicle, she closed the window behind her. Opening the door to the cubicle, she quickly made her way to the nurse's office, only to bump into a group of girls, who happened to be her classmates, on the way.

"Ah! Amano-san!"

"Are you alright?"

"You should be resting!"

Taken aback slightly by the sudden outburst of the girls, she quickly put on a smile and faced the girls.

"Yeah, I'm feeling better now. I just went to the toilet. Why are you three here? Shouldn't you get to class? Isn't the next lesson starting?" she asked.

"Of course we'd be here! Our new addition to the chosen A class got injured, how could we possibly not care to see how you're doing?" the first one replied, and Teresa wanted to groan.

'So they just wanted to get on my good side for their own advantage, huh?' she thought. The people on the main campus were simply deplorable. She prayed that the students on class 3-E weren't like this. She barely managed to prevent herself from revealing her true thoughts.

"Oh, really? Thanks so much for caring about me! I'm touched, truly," she gushed, mentally hacking. She wanted to hurl at how she sounded to herself right now. The three girls seemed to buy it, though.

"No problem! By the way, I wanted to tell you that that was so cool!"

"...What was?"

"How you flipped in midair and kicked the ball back, of course! I've never seen anyone do that!" the second girl squealed, and Teresa whined. They were like a couple of fangirls. This is worse than at the assassination organisation. She'd choose the organisation's hushed whispers and gossips over this any day.

She let out embarrassed, fake embarrassed, laughter and scratched her cheek. "Thanks, I guess... I wasn't really trying to show off or anything. It's just that since the ball came to my face, I figured that was the best course of action."

The three girls laughed along with her before excusing themselves and rushing to the classroom. As she entered the nurse's office, she went up to the nurse, who noticed her instantly.

"Oh, you're finally back! I was getting worried. Come on now, you should rest," the nurse began, before getting interrupted by Teresa.

"Thank you for your concern, but I'm alright already. If it is alright with you, I'd like to remove the bandages and ankle guard and return to class," Teresa told the nurse, who stared at her dumbfounded.

"If your ankle doesn't look any better, you're staying here to rest, understand?" Teresa nonchalantly nodded in response to the nurse's stern warning.

She then sat down on a bed and closed the curtain once more. She quickly removed the said items before quickly pulling down her leggings, just enough to reveal her ankle. Opening the curtains once more, she showed the nurse her ankle, who gasped in shock.

"What?! Not even a bruise or a scratch?" she exclaimed, and Teresa raised an eyebrow, amused by the lady's dramatic antics.

"As you can see, I really am better now. May I return to class?" she asked, slipping her sock and shoe on. The nurse nodded numbly, watching Teresa walk out of the clinic with ease.

Teresa quickly made her way to the female changing room and changed her clothes, putting back on the proper school uniform, before returning to class. After knocking the door twice, she slid it open and ignored the obviously shocked stares of all the students, including Gakushuu, and faced the teacher, who looked just as taken aback.

"A-Amano-kun, how..."

"As you can see, I have fully recovered from the incident earlier. I apologise for being late for class. The school nurse said its fine, so you don't mind, do you?" she answered, giving a gentle smile.

"Yes, yes, it's no problem. No problem at all..." he said, before mumbling things under his breath along the lines of 'unbelievable' and 'impossible'. She kept the smile on her face as she walked towards her desk and settled down.

* * *

She regretted not staying in the nurse's office when that teacher's lesson ended. As soon as the teacher left the classroom, she got flooded by mountains of questions.

"That was awesome, Amano-san!"

"How did you do that?"

"I've never seen anything like it!"

"How are you so strong?"

"You were so quick, I barely saw it happening!" So on and so forth. She wanted to die. She reeeeally didn't need this. Nor did she want it.

"You were carried by Asano-kun to the nurse's office! You're so lucky!" Wait, what?

"Huh?" was all she managed to say.

"Asano-kun, the star of the school, carried you! I'm so envious of you!"

What. The. Heck.

Are they...serious right now? Even the guys were nodding in agreement. She looked past the crowd around her and spotted Gakushuu, whose eyes twitched a little upon hearing those words. Looks like he didn't appreciate it as well. ''You reap what you sow' best explains this situation, I guess.'

Feeling the phone in her pocket vibrate, she thanked the gods as she excused herself to go the toilet. Locking herself in a cubicle once more, she fished out her phone and stared at the number that called. Accepting the call, she brought the phone to her ear.

"Gid-sama, why are you calling me in the middle of school hours?"

"I heard you got injured earlier. What happened? It isn't like you to make such a careless mistake."

"...Who told you I got injured?"

"The chairman, why?" She frowned upon hearing that. Did Gakushuu tell him? Or did he see from his monitor? Either way, it didn't help her situation.

"I'm fine. My thoughts were disrupted and I got distracted. Nothing serious, so please don't shower me with your unnecessary worries," she answered in a cold tone, not because she upset about being worried about by Gid, which she actually was, but because she was getting frustrated about her progress on her mission. Not being in the same class as her target was really inconvenient.

"This is the first time I worry about you, only to get it thrown back into my face. I guess I should have expected that. Alright, good luck with the rest of the day. I presume your injury is already healed?"

"Yeah, it is. By the way, I managed to sneak out earlier. Turns out our target have instant regeneration abilities."

"...Instant regeneration? Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie about this?"

"Who finally managed to harm the target?"

"Akabane Karma. His suspension ended today."

"I see. Is that all?"

"Yes. I'll be hanging up now," she said, and ended the call. Leaving the cubicle, she was surprised to find out no one had followed her. She then took her own sweet time to return to the classroom.

"This is going to be a long day..."

* * *

Teresa let out a silent sigh of relief and she left her desk and headed out of the classroom. She was right, it turned out to be a really long day. In between every lesson after her return, she constantly received the attention she didn't want, and she was even called to the chairman's office. He was, apparently, kind enough to let her off the hook for destroying a wall, seeing as it wasn't on purpose. She wondered if Gakushuu told him something to go easy on her. Taking out her phone, she sent a quick text to Edward, telling him to go on ahead without fetching her, for she wanted to be alone for the rest of the day.

Upon reaching the station near school, she heard Nagisa's voice and turned to see him bidding farewell to Sugino before parting ways. Just as Nagisa was about to leave, the same two goons she had cased of the other day reappeared and began to cruelly tease him.

"Hey look! It's Nagisa! Right at home down in the E class."

"How lame! He'll never make it back to our class."

Teresa could practically see the dark thoughts circling in Nagisa's mind as the two continued their verbal torture. "Plus, Akabane's back in the E class now that his suspension's over!"

"Wow, that's the worst! I would seriously rather _die_ than to wind up there!"

Having had enough, Teresa began making her way to the two, ready to chase them off, but stopped short when she spotted a flash of red appear before them. Quick as lightning, Karma smashed an empty glass bottle against the pillar behind the two goons right above their heads, causing both boys to jolt and Nagisa to turn around in surprise. Seeing who their attacker was, both boys paled physically and let out terrified moans as they backed up.

"Really? You'd rather die?" Karma questioned with fake curiosity, turning to stare at the two, before raising the broken end of the bottle towards them. "Then...why don't you die right now?"

"A-Akabane!" Apparently not wanting to risk getting a broken limb or two, the two quickly scrammed. Letting out a laugh, Karma let go of the broken bottle, letting it fall to the ground into a pile of broken glass. "Like I'd actually do it!"

"With such a great toy to play with, who wants another suspension?" he continued, his eyes narrowing as he approached Nagisa, who looked relieved.

"Karma-kun…"

"So listen, Nagisa-kun. There's something I wanted to ask you-"

"Could you save that for after you clear your mess?" Turning around, the two boys stared in surprise at their familiar female friend who had bent down to pick up the shards of glass, looking up at them with a teasing smile.

"Teresa-chan/Amano-san!" Karma and Nagisa exclaimed simultaneously. Her smile turned into a pout as she frowned at them.

"Nagisa-san, there is no need to be so formal. Just call me 'Teresa'. And Karma-san, please don't add '-chan' to my name. You know how I feel about that," she said, looking back down to pick up the shards of glass.

"Sorry, sorry," Karma replied nonchalantly, bending down to clear up the mess he made, Nagisa joining them soon after.

"So, Karma-kun, you know Ama-Teresa-san?" Nagisa asked, changing his way of addressing her when he saw her stare at him intensely.

"Yep! Met on the street, saved her from a gang of highschoolers," Karma replied, and Teresa chuckled. He didn't so much save her from the highschooler , but rather from having to deal with them.

"Seriously?" She nodded in response, as she stood up to dispose the glass shards.

"So, what 'new toy' might you be referring to, Karma-san?" Teresa questioned, causing both boys to freeze up slightly, well, Nagisa only to be exact. Karma simply stilled for a moment, a blank look on his face, before smiling as he turned to face her. "I'm going to kill our homeroom teacher!"

Nagisa wanted to faint. What was Karma doing, exposing their class' state secret! Paling, he turned to look at Teresa, who simply smiled and tilted her head to the side.

"Kill your teacher? His reputation as a teacher, you mean?" she questioned, and Nagisa raised his brows. Did she not realise it was literal?

"Well, yes. That's right," Karma replied, and Nagisa stared at him with wide eyes. Karma usually never lied unless it was to play a prank, but this wasn't one. So, Teresa is right, then?

"So, I presume you already started today? Seeing as you have returned from your suspension."

"Yep!"

"Mind telling me more? I'm interested to know what you did this time."

"Sure!" Staring at the two, flabbergasted, Nagisa silently followed them into the station while hearing Karma give Teresa a contorted version of the true story.

* * *

"And then, he was silent for the rest of the lesson. Karma-kun really deflated his ego," Nagisa finished, and Karma snickered while Teresa gave a nervous smile.

"I see…I kinda feel sorry for him," Teresa said, and she had to admit, she really pitied her target. Getting played by Karma was a painful thing. That night when she had treated Karma to dinner at the ramen store, he had filled her in on his many pranks and she couldn't help but feel sorry for his victims. Karma really went extreme sometimes.

"So, Nagisa. I understand you know a few things about that sensei," Karma said, facing the said boy, who nodded in response. "Uh, well, kind of."

"Does he get mad if you call him an octopus?" Teresa raised a brow. She seriously doubted that, to be honest. And she was spot on.

"An octopus? On the contrary, I think. His self-portrait is an octopus, and he picks the octopus character in games. And when he was digging around in the sandbox…he called himself an 'octo-trap'." An image of only the target's face being visible in the sand box appeared and she chuckled to herself. He really was too funny to be taken seriously.

"So if he's making jokes like that, I'd say the octopus thing is kind of like his trademark."

"Hmm, I see. That gives me a little idea."

"What are you up to this time, Karma-kun?" asked Nagisa, a concerned look on his face.

"I'm happy, that's all. I was wondering what I'd do if he were just some monster, but turns out he's an actual teacher," As he said these words, the sound of the train approaching was heard, and soon the train arrived, swooshing past behind Karma, causing his jacket and hair to fly along in the direction it was moving at. Because of its arrival, the setting sun was blocked out, causing their vision to turn slightly dark, and within the darkness, Karma's golden eyes seemed to glow. "And I get to kill an actual teacher..."

He laughed and continued, "I mean, the last one up and died on me."

Teresa let out a low amused whistle, marvelling at the bloodlust seeping out of him. Turning to look at Nagisa, she noticed he had a knowing look, as if aware of what Karma was talking about.

"'The last one'? Who was your previous teacher, Karma-san?" Teresa asked, following the two into the train.

"…Your current homeroom teacher." Raising her eyebrows at his reply, she noticed the slightly agitated and disappointed look in his eye. So, his trust was betrayed by that poor excuse of a teacher, huh?

"Anyhow, I look forward to tomorrow! What shall I do first?" Karma snickered, causing both Teresa and Nagisa to sweatdrop. Sighing, Teresa smirked at Karma. "I don't think anything you do tomorrow is going to work."

His eyes averted towards her without turning his head, a dangerous look in his eyes as a frown came over his lips, and he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, you were able to get him today because you caught him off-guard and he didn't know what kind of person you were. But now that he knows, he will be prepared for anything you throw his way."

"…Are you telling me to give it up, then?"

"No, I'm telling you not to expect too much from whatever you plan on doing tomorrow. And please don't do anything reckless," she replied, mumbling the last part more to herself than to him. Knowing him, he might just attempt something life-threatening to get what he wanted, which was to kill Korosensei. A confused look crossed his and Nagisa's face as he turned towards her to question her on the last part, only to find her out of the seat next to him and at the doors of the train, facing the doors and away from them.

Soon, the train reached its next stop, and as soon as it did, Teresa turned her head and gave them both a bright smile that looked so pure, they almost forget they were talking about killing their teacher with her.

"Well, all the best to you tomorrow then, Karma-san!" she exclaimed, before getting off the train, not waiting for a response. As the train doors closed, Nagisa turned to look at Karma.

"What do you think she meant by that?"

"..Who knows," Karma replied, staring ahead out of the window, his eyes following the raven-haired girl. He didn't understand what, but there was something about her that intrigued him, that she was more than meets the eye. Brushing off the unidentified feeling, he went back to mentally plotting his schemes. Nagisa laughed nervously as he listened to Karma, who had seemingly grown horns and a tail as a cheeky smile appeared on his face.

* * *

Teresa slowly made her way towards to the condominium she was living in. She was still slightly shaken up by the flashback that came to her during PE lesson. She was able to put up a strong front till now, and she was really at her limits now. Not looking at where she was walking, she jolted slightly as her leg hit a cardboard box on the ground. Looking down, her eyes widened as she stared at the black kitten in the box.

It looked only a few months old, and its hind leg was injured, if the bloody bandages were anything to go by. And its fur was all filthy and roughed up. As it looked up at her, she saw the pain and suffering it went through in its honey gold eyes. Bending down, she scooped up the kitten into her arms, and for some reason it didn't fight back, but instead snuggled closer to her. She could stop herself from helping it, for it somewhat reminded her of herself.

"We're quite alike, huh? In pain with no one around who can hear it," she whispered, and the cat seemed to nod in agreement before resting its head against her arm. After bringing it home, it surprisingly didn't fight back as she washed its fur with water and treated its wound. Combing through its now silky and clean fur as it lay on her lap, she stared out of the window, a dull look on her face, as she desperately willed down the undesired memories resurfacing in her memories.

'I became an assassin to get over this, but yet I'm still getting haunted by these memories,' Teresa thought to herself, clenching her fist so hard that she drove her nails through her skin and causing her hand to bleed. It hurt, but this was better compared to her mental and emotional wound, for unlike physical wounds, these wounds didn't heal over time.

Deciding to work off these anxieties, she settled the kitten on the couch and changed in her training attire before heading towards the training room. On the way, she sent a quick text to Edward to come over and spar with her. It was better to have a proper opponent than a punching bag anyway.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	4. A Lesson Learnt, Her Plan Progresses

**Hi people. Please don't hate me...or kill me. I just want to say. I'm really sorry for the delayed update. I was actually intending to finish and upload this chapter last Sunday, but I had to go to church in the morning and was out for the entire day after that. Then this week, I had orientation camp from early in the morning to late at night, hence I was unable to type this chapter out. So I hope you guys will forgive me for making you wait a week instead of the promised two to three days, and take this chapter as a token of my apology. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 4: A Lesson Learnt, Her Plan Progresses

The strangest thing happened the next day. As she walked towards her classroom, every male student she passed by seemed to stare at her, really intensely at that, and mostly almost seemed to have hearts in their eyes. She was beginning to get creeped out, and that was something, coming from an assassin who isn't even shaken by the sight of carnage.

When she had reached her classroom, once she had settled in her seat, the same three girls from the previous day greeted her. Returning the greeting, she decided she had enough of the stares and questioned the girls about it.

"Oh, apparently the news of your incident at PE yesterday and how the school's prince, Asano-kun, carried you have spread throughout the school, so practically the whole school has dubbed you the school's princess now." She raised a brow. Gakushuu is the school's 'prince'? More importantly, she's now the school's 'princess'? She held back a groan, feeling a growing headache coming on, and gave a strained smile. "I see…"

"Amano-san!" Hearing her name being called out, she turned to the source to see one of her classmates at the door, and a male student from another class outside. Getting out of her seat, she walked towards them. "Yes? May I help you?"

"He's a first-year in our junior high division. He said he wants to speak to you." Turning to look up at the junior, her eye twitched at his height for someone younger than her. He wasn't as tall as Gakushuu or Karma, but still taller than her. "So, what do you need from me?"

"Amano-senpai, please go out with me!" She blinked once, then twice. What?

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Please go out with me!" He repeated, bowing towards her in a respectful manner. Teresa fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling the unmistakably heated stares from her male classmates on the poor freshmen, who seemed to sweat slightly under the intensity.

"…Why me?"

"Because you're cool, smart, and b-beautiful!" How straightforward, and boring. He only wanted her for her appearance, for her daily façade, not for who she really was. Not that she could blame him, she hadn't shown anyone in this school her true self, and her farce was that of a perfect girl's. With an apologetic smile on her face, she gave her reply.

"I'm sorry, but I can't go out with you. It's not that I don't like you, but I don't even know you. And I'm not interested in being in a relationship anytime soon, because I want to focus on my studies," she answered. 'And because I'm here on an assassination mission,' she added in her mind.

The boy deflated slightly upon hearing her answer, before looking at her once with hopeful looking eyes, causing her to tense up slightly.

"T-Then, may we be friends?" he asked, her eyes widening at the question, before the shock was quickly replaced with slight sorrow.

'How innocent…and naïve. If you knew the kind of person I was, you wouldn't desire such a bond with me.' The pained glimmer in her eyes was gone as soon as it came, as she flashed a smile at him, causing his cheeks to flush slightly. "Sure!"

Apologising for taking up her time, he quickly dismissed himself while she returned to her seat. She really hoped that the rest of the boys in the school wouldn't be confessing to her too, but fate had its way of making its existence unbearable.

* * *

The rest of the day was horrible, to say the least. Guys from her class and other classes came to ask her out in between each class. When it was finally time for break, she bolted out of the classroom before anyone could approach her. Hearing footsteps following in her direction, she made a sharp turn around the corner and hid in the first room she could find.

She remained silent as the thundering footsteps went right past the door ad grew softer till it was gone. Letting out a sigh of relief, Teresa leaned against the wall and slumped to the ground. She really wished she could just get into class E immediately. Then she wouldn't have to deal with all this. She could faintly hear the same footsteps echoing throughout the halls and sighed, they were still looking for her?

'I guess I can't sneak out today,' she thought to herself as she took in her surroundings. Noticing the instruments lying around, she realised she was in the music room. Her eyes eventually landed on the grand piano that was at one corner of the room. She stood up and walked towards it. 'Might as well, to kill time.'

Lifting the cover to unveil the keys, she settled down on the provided chair and rested her fingers on the black and white keys. Closing her eyes, she pressed down on them, the beautiful, gentle melody of 'River flows in You' by Yiruma filling the room. As Teresa progressed, she poured her heart and soul into playing the song and got so immersed in it that she didn't sense someone's gaze on her from the other side of the door.

Gakushuu stared in amazement as he watched Teresa get lost in the song. He had heard the piano being played and was curious as to who it was. He was surprised, for she was playing the song perfectly, literally and emotionally. She played every note accurately and at the right timing, and he could feel her strong passion for the song. Miraculously, no one entered or stopped by the room during rest of the song.

As soon as she ended, she slowly opened her eyes and instantly felt the intense gaze on her. With heightened caution, she whipped her head towards the door, a glint of shock passed her eyes as she saw Gakushuu standing outside staring right back at her. She sighed inwardly, this was the second time she carelessly lowered her guard. Flashing a sideway smile, she slowly stood up and made her way to the door, opening it and gesturing for him to enter, to which he gladly complied.

"My apologies, Asano-kun. Are we not allowed to be here unless we have permission from a teacher?"

"Calm down, Amano-san. It's nothing like that. I'm here because I heard you play the piano. By the way, I must say, you are rather skilled. You played that piece perfectly," Gakushuu said. Sheepishly looking to the side, she averted her eyes from his as her lips settled into a shy smile. "Thank you."

"I saw you dash out of class earlier. I apologise for the inconvenience caused by the students. I didn't think it would cause such a huge commotion…" He really didn't. He knew that the students would probably gossip about it for a few days, but he didn't think that it would catch the attention of this many students, especially male students. He also didn't expect for them to dub her the school's 'princess'.

"You have nothing to apologise for, Asano-kun. It wasn't your fault, and I don't blame you, or anyone else. You were simply being considerate for my injury. If anything, I'm the one to blame for being careless," she replied in a soft tone.

"So, you're not upset at me?" Hearing this, she looked up at him with a blank expression on her face, before quickly covering her mouth as she let out a muffled laugh-a real one-and glanced at Gakushuu, who appeared taken aback by her sudden laughter.

"Of course not! I am upset, though, at the fact that the guys are all confessing to me. I really am not interested in finding a lover or anything of the sort. And why are they calling me 'cool'? Smart, I understand from my results I got for the entrance examination, beautiful or pretty, I guess that depends on them, but cool? Where did that come from?" she replied, questioning Gakushuu at the end.

Gakushuu pondered over her question. True enough, what reason did they have to call her cool? If there was anything she had done during her first week here that was considered cool, it would be…

"I guess your display of strength during physical education class was what they thought to be cool. Admittedly, it was," Gakushuu told her, and she stared at him, not expecting him to have said the last part. She then closed her eyes and turned away. 'If you knew why, you wouldn't think that way.'

"I see…that does make sense." She sat back down on the chair, not saying another word. Noticing her silence, he stared down at her, and noticed how her bangs and fringe covered her face, just like the previous day.

Thinking nothing of it, he asked, "So, we still have plenty of time before break ends. Are you going to stay in the music room for the rest of the break?"

"I guess. If I leave now, I'd probably still get chased, so I'm staying. How about you?"

"I guess I'll accompany you, then."

"Fine by me. By the way, are you alright with all this gossiping going around? I would have thought you might be disturbed by all this," Teresa asked, sending a glance his way, and noticed his eyebrow twitch slightly, before he smirked. "Don't worry about me. I'm used to this, being the school's top student as well as the student council president and all." Wow, he was rather arrogant about it too.

"I see. That's a relief, then. I was worried if I had caused you too much trouble."

"Say, what other instruments do you play?" He walked around the room, slowly looking at the instruments, one by one.

"Um…all of them?" she replied with a nervous laugh, as Gakushuu turned to gape at her.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah…I've been into music since I was young, so I learnt them all." Before becoming an assassin, music had always been an interest of hers, and so she learnt to play practically every instrument. Although she only mastered playing tons of songs on different instruments perfectly after she became an assassin, as training to broaden her skill set.

"Well then, what instrument do you play best?" He questioned further, partly because he truly was curious, and partly to find out more about her.

"Well, I can't say for sure which instrument I play best, but I enjoy playing the guitar and piano the most," she replied honestly. Seriously speaking, she was able to play all instruments perfectly, so asking her which instrument was she the best at playing was a taboo. Smirking, Gakushuu picked up the acoustic guitar next to him and walked over to her, putting it into her arms.

"Really? Mind playing something?" She looked down at the guitar in her hands, before staring up into Gakushuu's eyes. She instantly knew, he was doing this to evaluate her. Smiling, she adjusted the capo clip on a certain bar and positioned her fingers on the fingerboard, before plucking the strings, a delicate and gentle melody echoing throughout the room. Gakushuu frowned slightly as he listened. She was really good, probably better than him even.

After that, she continued playing other songs, till they heard the sound of the school bell ring. Teresa stood up and put the guitar back to where it came from, then returned to the piano to lower the cover. Turning to face Gakushuu, she slowly walked towards him. "Shall we go then? We're going to be late for class at this rate."

* * *

The rest of the day was pure torture. When they returned to class, turns out the guys who were chasing her were all waiting for her in the classroom. They all approached her, with the intention of either confession or friendship, until Ouno-sensei entered, causing them all the scram. For the first time since she came into the school, she felt grateful for his existence.

As soon as the last lesson ended, she hightailed out of the classroom and towards the hill, sending a quick text to Edward to wait for her. As she ran past the forest, a flash a red and blue caught her eye. Skidding to a stop, she quickly climbed up a tree and concealed her presence. Staring down, she saw Nagisa and Karma at a clearing, which happened to be the top of a cliff on this hill. Karma was sitting on the trunk of a tree at the edge of the cliff, while Nagisa stood a safe distance away from the edge.

Karma had an agitated look on his face, and was chewing on his nail, no doubt frustrated by his failed assassination attempts. Nagisa glanced warily at Karma, as he tried to…console him. "Karma-kun…don't sweat it. We'll all do him in together. Once Korosensei has his eye on you, you can't kill him by yourself, no matter the method. He's not like other teachers." Karma stopped biting his nail and looked up.

"Teacher, eh…?" For a moment, Teresa saw a flash of anger and betrayal in his eyes as he seemed to get lost in his own thoughts. "Hell, no. I want to do it. Nothing would tick me off more than him dying in some random place."

"Karma-kun." Both boys turned their heads to the right to see the subject of their discussion, who approached them slowly.

"I've certainly taken good care of you today, haven't I?" Green strips appeared on his face, a cheeky smirk on his face as he rubbed his tentacle-like fingers against each other. "You can still try to kill me, you know? I'll polish you up even shinier."

An uneasy look crossed Karma's face, causing Teresa to be slightly appalled. For Karma of all people to look disturbed…just what had the target done to him? She watched tensely as Karma slowly rose to his feet.

"Just to make sure…Sensei, you are a teacher, correct?" Karma questioned with a small smile on his face.

"Yes."

"And you would, say, risk your life to protect your students?" Teresa raised a brow as she watched his movements, before furrowing her brows in a frown. He wasn't actually going to-

"Of course. I'm a teacher, after all." At this, Karma held confidence in his stance as he seemingly made his resolve, raising his right arm to point a gun at Korosensei.

"I see, that's a relief. Then I can kill you." With that, Karma leaned backwards, allowing himself to fall off the cliff. "For sure."

Nagisa felt his blood drain from his face as he watched his friend disappear from his sight. Letting out a gasp, panic and fear gripped him as he rushed to the edge.

Karma had an exhilarated look on his face as he awaited Korosensei's response to his suicidal assassination attempt. 'So, sensei, what'll it be? If you come to help, I'll shoot you before you can save me. If you just let me die, your life as a teacher will be over.'

He laughed inwardly as flashbacks crossed his mind. 'Oh man! Everything's flashing before my eyes!'

* * *

 _"Are you alright, senpai?" Karma asked, one hand forcing someone's head against the wall, as he faced another student, who was on the ground. Noticing the student's ID on the ground, he immediately realised which class the student was from._

 _"3-E? You mean that 3-E class? It must be hard, for your fate to be decided by something like that."_

 _"Huh? I'm in the right here. What's wrong with saving a bullied student?"_

 _"No, Akabane. No matter how you look at it, you're in the wrong!" Eh?_

 _"Have you lost your mind?! Where do you get off injuring the best student from the third years?" What? Wait, sensei-_

 _"You sided with the E class and hurt someone with a bright future. If this affects his studies, I'll be the one held responsible!" He said he'll be on my side, and now this? ...Crap, he's dying._

 _"Your grades are the only thing you got right, they're the only reason why I've always looked the other way! But once you start hurting my career, that's a different story all together." In my eyes, this guy's dying._

 _"I've put in for your transfer. Congratulations, Akabane. You'll be starting your third year in the E class-ARRRGH!" He let me down, and hence he's the same as dead to me._

* * *

'Korosensei! I'll kill you with my own two hands! Now, which death do you choose?'

Teresa tsked as she gave a punitive gaze at Karma's falling form. She just told him yesterday not to do anything reckless, and there he goes, purposely falling off a cliff to kill the target. She sighed, watching the scene unravel, already knowing his efforts were in vain as a yellow tentacle rushed down towards Karma.

Soon, a yellow spider web appeared beneath Karma, who landed safely with an obviously surprised look on his face. Appearing below the net, Korosensei called out to Karma, whose eyes moved to the side. "Karma-kun. Splendid job on the premeditated assassination starring yourself." Karma let out a sound of confusion upon hearing those words.

"If I saved you at the speed of sound, your body wouldn't hold out. But if I moved slowly, I'd get hit. So," he said, popping his head through one of the spaces in the web as he watched Karma struggle to move his arms and legs, which were glued to the web, "I decided I'd try a sticky approach."

"Damn! What can't these tentacles do?!" Karma exclaimed with a frustrated groan, while Korosensei leisurely popped up in another space, a cheeky smile on his face. "You can't shoot me now!" He then popped back into the previous space and spoke once more.

"Oh, and for the record," Karma turned his head to face the target, whose tone turned serious, "letting you die is not an option for me." Karma's eyes widened.

"Feel free to take a leap of faith anytime you like." Staring at Korosensei, Karma eventually gave a resigned sigh and dropped his head against the net, a grin on his lips. 'It's no use. He won't die and he can't be killed. Not the teacher part of him, anyway.'

Looking down from where she was, Teresa smirked. "I told you so," she murmured, watching Korosensei carry Karma back to the top of the cliff.

"That was a lot crazier than you made it seem, Karma-kun," Nagisa said, cautiously peering off the edge.

"Eh, no biggie. As far as I could see, that would've been my best chance at killing him," Karma relied nonchalantly, staring up at the sky.

"Oh? Out of ideas already?" Karma averted his eyes from the sky to Korosensei, to see his many tentacles holding tons of female grooming tools, an evil grin in place. "I have plenty of grooming tools to use in retaliation. You're kind of a pushover yourself, aren't you?!"

Teresa bit her lower lip to stifle her laughter as an irritated scowl appeared on Karma's face, hearing those words getting returned to him. He then smirked and stood to his feet, before swiping his thumb across his neck. "Oh, I'll kill you. Maybe even tomorrow."

Korosensei's face turned orange with a red circle on it, and said "A healthy, refreshing bloodlust. Looks like you don't need any more of my special care." Nagisa let out a sigh of relief and smiled, watching Karma stroll pass Korosensei, tossing up and catching a purse as he did so.

"Let's head on back, Nagisa-kun. We can eat on the way." As soon as he completely passed by, Korosensei whipped around, sweatdropping in panic and realisation, causing Teresa to blink in confusion. What was wr- "Hey! That's my purse!" Huh?

With a mocking smirk, Karma turned sideways, facing Korosensei. "Like I said, don't leave it completely unattended in the faculty lounge!" Teresa gave a 'what the hell' look as she listened to the target shriek at Karma to return it. 'Are you kidding me?'

"If you insist." Catching the purse, Korosensei opened it up, before holding it upside down with one hand and pointing to it with the other. "But… This is empty!" Stopping his retreat once more, Karma flashed an innocent-looking smile.

"There wasn't much in there to begin with, so I took it all. Call it a donation!"

Korosensei began to flip out and called Karma a 'hypocritical delinquent' before he began a long lecture, which Karma simply laughed off.

Having seen enough, Teresa turned around and decided to leave the forest, making a jump as she neared the main campus, which led her to land right next to Edward, who was leaning against the limo. Shocked by her sudden appearance, he fell onto his behind as he broke out into cold sweat and stared up at Teresa, who simply gave a blank look, like she didn't just scare the living shit out of him.

"Wha-When did you-?!" Edward stammered, at a loss of words. Teresa simply raised a brow, and patiently waited for Edward to eventually get over his shock as he got up and opened the door for her, allowing her to enter the limo.

On the road, Edward gave a nervous look to Teresa through the rear-view mirror. "Please tell me if you're gonna appear like that. Rather, please don't ever do that again."

Teresa frowned and rolled her eyes at that. "You're an assassin, like me. You should have sensed me approaching if you were properly watching your surroundings, which you clearly weren't. So you only have yourself to blame." Not that she was any better, based on her previous slip-ups in the school, but she kept that to herself.

Edward gave a teary sigh at her cold tone. Of course she hadn't changed despite attending this school as a normal student. Then again, one couldn't really consider such a young girl who chose to be an assassin to be normal.

Teresa let out an exhausted sigh. The day wore her mentally, having to deal with confessions. How did regular students manage such encounters in their daily lives was beyond her. Or rather, she wasn't the least bit interested in having a love interest or making friends with anyone. After all, the only reason she was in the school was to eliminate her target.

Feeling her phone vibrate, she fished it out of her pocket and saw an email was sent to her. Opening it, she noticed it was from Gid.

'We have received word that a new assassin is being hired as a teacher. I have attached a file with her identification and other information to this email.'

''Her'?' Tapping on the file, it began to download itself. As soon as it finished, she opened it and blinked her eyes in surprise and recognition at the image of the blonde woman that appeared on her phone screen.

"…Irina…Jelavich? If memory serves me right, isn't she…one of Lovro's students?" she muttered under her breath.

'It's a good thing we've never met…or else she'd blow my cover when I transfer.' She thought to herself, letting out a sigh. Upon hearing her, Edward turned his head slightly to face her.

"You've been sighing a lot lately. Is your new assassination mission that tiring?" he questioned, genuinely concerned about her.

"Yeah, only mentally, though. Things just keep happening and it's wearing me out." She replied, staring out of the window with a bored expression. Strangely, the subject of confessions came to mind once more, making her curious about something. After a while, she directed her gaze towards Edward's through the rear-view mirror.

"Edward, have you been confessed to before?" She asked, and then let out a yelp of shock as the car sharply swerved to the side. He quickly took control of the car once more before turning around completely, shooting a bewildered look at her. "W-Why are you asking me that? Did someone-?!"

"N-No, it's nothing. Forget it. Don't you dare tell anyone about this, especially Gid-sama," She stuttered, turning away from him, feeling heat creep up to her cheeks. Forcing down the blush that threatened to rise, she focused on the view outside.

* * *

"Amano-san! Please go out with me!" Seo exclaimed, bowing in front of her. Her eye twitched, straining to keep that smile on her face as she stared at her classmate.

"Seo-kun..." she began, gathering all her willpower not to snap at him. "This is the fifth time you've confessed to me this week."

"I'm aware."

"And what do you possibly hope to gain, after being rejected the first four times?"

"I don't plan on giving up on you!"

"And yet my answer remains the same: no."

"Why? Give me a reason besides the fact that you want to focus on your studies. I was won't give up unless you do so." Teresa stared at him with a calculative gaze, before making her decision. 'I'll start with him, then.'

She smiled broadly and closed the gap between them, her lip millimetres from his, the thin layers of their clothes the only barrier separating their bodies.

A flush of pink appeared on Seo's cheeks as he gave a grin, thinking she had given in, he raised his hands, about to settle them on her hips.

"Well...you're annoying."

Seo jerked back from her, taken aback by the harsh tone in her voice when she spoke. More importantly, what did she just-?

"What...did you say?" he hesitantly asked, glancing warily at her with heightened caution.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, she, too, backed up and straightened, crossing her arms across her chest and holding her head high, exuding an intimidating aura, causing Seo to cower slightly.

"I said, you're annoying. Can I get any clearer than that? And you're persistent too. Confessing to me once every day for a whole week, why don't you give it up already?" She replied arrogantly, the smile long gone and replaced with a from, a condescending gleam in her eyes. Watching Seo slump to the ground, she turned around and stalked off.

Seo stayed on the ground, eyes wide with fear and confusion. Who was that? Was that really Amano Teresa, the sweet angel who never showed any other expression than a smile so pure that could cleanse any evil?

Eventually recovering from his shock, he slowly rose to his feet, sweeping off the dirt from his pants as he made his way back to class. An evil smirk settled on his lips, as he deviously plotted a scheme to make her regret not accepting his confession and for dealing a heavy blow on his ego.

Teresa was frustrated, to say the least. For the last week, she hadn't been able to sneak out of the main campus at all, with all the pursuing the guys were doing. She didn't even manage to see Irina Jelavich in person, or her assassination attempt.

And Seo just had to add more to her plate. Well, not that it mattered. It worked well to her advantage.

By the time break came, many girls were muttering amongst themselves in hushed whispers. Her three groupies had approached her about it.

"Amano-san, is it true that you turned down Seo-kun's confession?"

"Yes, it is. I said that I wanted to focus on my studies and I wasn't interested in being in a relationship." Teresa smoothly lied, but the three girls seemed to be in doubt, as they exchanged looks.

"We have assembly after break, right? I'm going to go buy a drink," she told them, excusing herself as she left the classroom.

Once she reached outside the building, she was about to reach the vending machine when she heard footsteps growing louder, which was quickly followed by a girly shriek.

Turning to the source, she came face to face with a guy lying on the ground, surrounded by several snakes. 'Isn't this guy Okajima Taiga?'

She walked over to him and bent down, a concerned look on her face. As soon as she did, Nagisa emerged from the forest.

"Ah! Nagisa-san! Is this your classmate?" she asked, pointing down at Okajima, and Nagisa nervously laughed while nodding in response. "Yeah..."

"What happened?"

"Well, since we have assembly, we are supposed to come down during break, but there were quite a few obstacles, and Okajima-kun took a few for us..." Uwaah.

"I see. Are you alright?" she further inquired. She didn't miss the inferior look Nagisa had in his eyes when he spoke. Giving her a sad smile, he simply nodded. She quickly looked at the rest of the students from class 3-E as they reached the main school grounds. Noticing a lack of red, she questioned Nagisa.

"Ah…he's playing hooky. He knows that he would be punished for doing so, and said he couldn't care less," Nagisa replied with a sheepish smile, eliciting a good-natured laugh from her. "That's so much like Karma-san!"

"Oh! Amano-san! Long time no see!" Kayano exclaimed, skipping up to Teresa with a cheerful smile. Teresa returned the gesture. "Likewise!"

"You know each other?" Rio asked, eyeing the raven-haired girl suspiciously.

"Yep! She saved Nagisa and me from a couple of students who were bullying us!" Kayano exclaimed. Rio immediately lightened up upon hearing that, and gave a wide grin.

"I see, I see! Thanks for looking out for these two!" she said, placing a hand on each of their heads.

"No problem!"

"By the way, what's your name?"

"Amano Teresa."

"No way! You're that new transfer student who scored full marks for every subject for your entrance exams, aren't you?!" Maehara exclaimed, appearing beside Rio. Teresa sweatdropped at his dramatic outburst. "Yes, that's right. I didn't realise you guys were aware of it…"

She watched most of the students collapsed on the ground, exhausted from their trip from the top of the mountain. Her eyes landed on Okajima once more, and noticed that there was still one more snake left on him.

It looked strangely alluring in her eyes, its scales were a shiny, blood red colour, turning a dirty yellow around its tail. Its eyes were bicoloured, one a amber gold and the other a dark violet. This snake just seemed to resemble a certain pair of boys who were so much alike, yet so different from each other, one in the top class and one in the worst class.

"O-Okajima…there's still one more snake on you…" Apparently she wasn't the only one who noticed, as Isogai trailed off. Okajima visibly paled and began screaming like a little girl, which sounded exactly like the one she heard earlier. With a chuckle, she slowly strolled towards his sprawled out form on the ground and bent down, stretching her arm towards the snake's head and narrowed her eyes when she made eye contact with it.

"T-Teresa-san! That's dan-" Nagisa stopped midsentence as he watched the snake, seemingly obediently, slither towards her and wind itself around her arm, eventually reaching her shoulders. "-ge…rous…"

As if she didn't hear anything, she looked at Nagisa with an innocent smile. "Sorry, did you say something, Nagisa-san?" she asked, immediately taking notice of his dumbstruck expression. And he wasn't the only one, for Kayano, Rio, Okajima, Isogai, and nearly every other student of the E class gawked at her with their jaws dropped, watching the snake flick its tongue at her cheek as she simply stared back at them, tilting her head to the side. "Hm?"

"N-No…" Nagisa was at a loss of words. She was holding a snake! A completely untamed and wild one too! Even Karauma-sensei, who was silently watching from the sidelines, was slightly unnerved by the sight.

"Well, I'll get going now. You should hurry to line up, or you might get into trouble!" she said cheerily, walking off with the snake, which slithered down from her shoulders to around her leg, as she headed towards the vending machine once more. Quickly brushing aside their momentary shock, they quickly shuffled into the hall and lined up in pairs.

Teresa, after getting her drink, walked over to the nearest tree and managed to get the snake to stay there. After that, she stalked over to a bench that was next to the vending machine, and slowly savored her drink.

Not long after, the school bell rang, indicating the end of break, and Teresa quickly blended in with the crowd of students that flooded into the hall. As she walked towards her class, she noticed the two goons from class 3-C mocking Nagisa, and sighed inwardly. They really didn't know when to stop, but right now she couldn't afford to save him. She helplessly watched him look down, averted his gaze from them to the ground as he silently accepted his fate. Standing next to her partner, she listened to the school dean's long lecture.

"In short, you are the cream of the crop, this nation's chosen elite! I, your school dean, can vouch for that! But if you're not careful," he paused momentarily, eyes going to the E class as he shot them a condescending smirk. "you might wind up as worthless as a certain bunch of nobodies!"

Sneers and laughter echoed throughout the hall as the students of the E class hung their heads in shame and embarrassment, bearing with the humiliation they were subjected to. Teresa pressed her lips into a thin line as she gritted her teeth, her eyes narrowed as she stared ahead. This school could not be more disgusting than the results of her line of work. She clenched her hands into fists, resisting the urge to kill as she suppressed her bloodlust. Noticing her tense posture, her partner glanced sideways at her.

"Amano-san, are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Teresa replied curtly, causing her partner to recoil slightly at the unfamiliar tone. She knew that she was unnecessarily blowing her cover, but she couldn't care less right now. She'd worry about that later, right now she needed to stop herself from launching at the school dean to rip out his throat…or burn him to a crisp, both of which were rather tempting.

She glanced their way every now and then, noting how flustered a female teacher was when Karasuma introduced himself. Soon after, she saw Irina enter the hall, turning every head with her drop-dead gorgeous looks. She noticed some guys were blushing and already had nosebleeds.

'…Scum. They are scumbags.' She thought to herself as she shot disgusted looks their way. She observed from the corner of her eye how Irina calmly stood next to Karasuma for less than a minute, before approaching Nagisa and whispering something to him, making him look rather troubled.

Before she knew it, Irina grabbed Nagisa head and smothered him with her chest. She deadpanned at the sight. She guessed Irina was doing this for the sake of assassinating Korosensei, but that was going overboard, considering the fact that she was to play the role of a teacher in this school. More importantly…

'Has she no shame?' she thought to herself, seeing some boys getting all flustered and having nosebleeds all over again watching the sight. She mentally thanked the gods when Karasuma grabbed her from behind, rather painfully too, and pulled her away from class.

Soon a stack of papers were being handed down. As she took one sheet and passed the rest down, she noticed how the students of the E class didn't seem to have any. Her suspicions were confirmed when she saw Okajima whispering to Isogai and Okano.

"Excuse me, class E hasn't received their printouts," exclaimed Isogai, raising a hand in pardon as he did. Araki, who was currently briefing on the contents of the printouts, feigned ignorance as he simply smiled.

"Eh? That's weird," he said, before his smile morphed into a cocky smirk. "I'm sorry, but we don't have enough printouts to give class E! I'm afraid you'll have to memorise everything before leaving the hall. You could use the practice, don't you think?" he taunted, and laughter echoed in the hall as some, or rather, all students from across the level, besides those in the E class, rubbed salt to their wounds.

She noted with amusement that both Karasuma and Irina frowned with what seemed like dissatisfaction and protectiveness as they silently watched their dearest students suffer. 'I guess it's not only for the assassination they look after that class.'

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind blew into the hall, only around where the E class was standing, and a sheet of paper appeared in every student's hand. They didn't seem to know who it was, judging by the looks of shock and confusion on their faces, but she already figured that out.

"That's not a problem." Isogai turned his head and saw Korosensei…in a poor excuse of a disguise. She had a deadpan look on her face once more as she watched her target spin a pencil. She was being rather easily brought out of her farce, but could one really blame her, with such a target? Everything about the guy seemed like a big fat joke, other than the fact that he was going to blow up and take the Earth with him. Back to the main point, did he really expect himself to be not suspicious, appearing in the school hall at Mach 20 with that ridiculous get up?

The two teachers turned to face their target, Irina in shock and Karasuma in fury. It was no surprise, he was a government lapdog and Korosensei was a worldwide secret…

"Isogai-kun! Does everyone have a handwritten copy?" Korosensei questioned. Replying with a firm 'yes', he raised his hand to interrupt once more.

"Sorry, class E has received their printouts! Please continue!" Isogai said, startling Araki, who, in his rather flustered state, made a slip up in his next words. "Eh? No way! Who was it, that destroyed our fun?!" As he said those words, the students from class E all wore knowing smiles, and Teresa too had the same smile, thinking to herself, 'Nice job, Korosensei!'

Noticing his mistake a second later, Araki quickly cleared his throat and continued his speech. Meanwhile, she saw Karasuma speaking-lecturing?-Korosensei, how looked as carefree as ever. She hears a couple of the students from the class next to her say, "Where did that teacher come from? Was he there since just now?"

"He seems rather big…and floppy…" the other muttered, and Teresa sweatdropped. She had thought to herself earlier that it would be a miracle if anyone didn't realise he wasn't human with such a get-up, but turns out the students here lacked more logic and common sense than she had expected them to. Then again, this school itself had a problem.

"Now the other teacher is attacking him," the first one said, and when she looked back at them, true to his word, Irina was holding an anti-Korosensei knife and making stabbing movements, clearly trying to slice of a tentacle or two. That is, until Karasuma grabbed the arm that was holding the knife and twisted it behind her back while grabbing her neck once more, pushing her out of the hall.

She saw how the E class students started laughing at Irina's attempt, and smiled softly. At least they have some happiness in this hell of a school. She then noticed some students scowling at the sight of the E class students enjoying themselves, namely two awfully familiar males.

* * *

When assembly had ended, Teresa was slowly making her way to the tree she had left the snake, before stopping midway when she saw the same two students harassing Nagisa. She would have gone over if not for the fact that Karasuma and Korosensei were in front of her, watching as well. She leaned against the wall, with her arms folded, as she watched the scene unravel. In all honesty, she didn't think there was a need for her to save Nagisa, or any student in the E class, anymore. By now, their bloodlust should be sharp enough. Korosensei seemed to be thinking the same thing when she heard him tell Karasuma, "The students who have been attempting to assassinate me wouldn't fall prey to those kind of students." She couldn't agree more.

"Say something, class E loser!" One of the guys yelled, grabbing the front of Nagisa's shirt, the surrounding students witnessing snickering at the sight. "You want me to kill you? Huh?!"

Nagisa blinked and looked up at the two. 'Kill…Kill, huh?'

"Hm." Both boys blinked in confusion, as Nagisa met their eyes, using his bloodlust to effectively scare them.

"Like you have ever killed, or tried to kill, anyone." Both boys squeaked in fear, immediately backing up, moving aside as Nagisa walked right past them, brimming with confidence with each step. Smirking, Teresa pushed herself off the wall and stalked off to the tree. Bending down, she gestured for it to wind itself around her. As soon as it hid under her skirt, she walked back to class. Upon reaching class, she had it stay in her bag till the end of the day.

* * *

On the way back, in the limo, Edward paled at the sight of the snake.

"Where did you get that?" he questioned cautiously, obviously afraid of the snake, that was playing with Teresa, winding around her arms and shoulders.

"In the forest, on that mountain." Edward blinked as he glanced into the rear-view mirror to observe her. Although her voice was monotonous as always, he was able to make out a hint of cheerfulness.

"Did something good happen? You seem rather…happy," he asked, and Teresa stared back at him, before tapping slightly into her assassin mode as a smirk appeared on her face.

"Yeah, I'm finally making some progress in a while."

"Progress?"

"Yep. I revealed a bit of my true self to this guy who confessed to me. Partly for the plan and also partly for the purpose of scaring him. His pushiness was testing my limits. It is just the matter of time now before I get transferred in the E class. This school's students are far too predictable." she replied, ignoring Edward's raised brows at the mention of confession, as she released immense amounts of bloodlust that had been bottled up for the past few weeks.

"I see... but I meant you seem to be earnestly happy at something completely unrelated with whatever you have planned for this mission," Edward quickly rephrased his question, realising where their conversation was going. That, and that he really couldn't stand it when he felt her bloodlust, it never failed to freak him out.

Her face went blank for a moment, and an image of the laughing students of class E flashed past her mind, followed by Nagisa standing up for himself, and then, strangely, Karma's and Gakushuu's faces. The ends of her lips barely curved upwards, creating a hardly noticeable yet genuine smile. And in a soft tone, she gave her reply.

"Who knows?"

* * *

 **So there you have it. I really hope you liked that. I'm finally starting school next week, so it may take me much longer from now on to update chapters. But worry not, I have already began on the next chapter. If I'm lucky enough to find time, I would be able to update that in probably a week or two. Please do review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	5. Revealing The Truth, Making A Move

**Good lord, am I busy in my new school now. I barely have time to write, not to mention my several periods of writer's block. I'm so sorry it took me, like, more than three weeks to finish this chapter. By the way, I started watching the anime 'Fukumenkei Noise' some time ago, and it is to die for. I totally recommend it. Although you might want to read the manga first.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Revealing The Truth, Making A Move

The next day, as she sat alone in the empty classroom, being the first to reach, she stared out of the window in boredom, before her eyes landed on Asano Gakuhou, who was making his way towards the mountain. Her eyes widened as she jumped out of her seat and bolted out of the classroom. 'An opportunity!'

She quickly made her way to his office, and was pleased to find out that his secretary wasn't there yet. Sneaking into his office, she quickly planted video and audio bugs at the four corners of the room, one on the ceiling behind the chairman's desk, where she would be able to see the screen of his monitor, and one more on the door knob. She made the cover of the bugs from wood, just in case the target may have a strong sense of smell and detect its metallic odour. She then proceeded to stick a mic under the chairman's desk.

She took out a mini, handheld monitor and quickly checked all the cameras and mics efficiency. Satisfied with the results, she hightailed out of the office and decided to advance to the E class. She concealed her presence and bloodlust as she made her way up the mountain by jumping from tree to tree. As soon as the campus was in sight, she hid behind a tree, balancing on a branch while leaning her back against the trunk, sharpening her ears to hear the conversation going on. She peeked out from behind the tree to take a glimpse at the target, who was currently sucking up to the chairman for…a raise in salary, apparently. She sweatdropped at the sight, he was eventually going to take the world to an end by next year, and here he was asking for a raise?

As her eyes trailed over Korosensei, the chairman, Karasuma and Irina, she sensed one more presence, who was outside the room. And judging from the sound of their breathing and heartbeat, she'd say it was Nagisa.

"I, too, must apologise. I'd intended to come pay my respects sooner. The Ministry of Defence and Karasuma-san have told me all about you. I can't claim to understanding everything, but… How heartbroken you must be, to have sought to become the saviour of the world, only to fall into the role of the great villain who would destroy it."

Teresa's eye narrowed slightly as she listened to the chairman speak. So, he was aware of that much, despite not knowing everything. He truly was a frighteningly intuitive man. Too bad she couldn't say the same for Nagisa, whom she was sure was no doubt confused by the chairman's words. She snuck a glance at Korosensei's face, and saw his usual bright smile dimmed slightly.

"But let's set that aside for now. Despite how much I may struggle, I can't possibly hope to save the world from its crisis. Barring the unexpected, I will stay out of your assassination altogether," he declared, as he made his way to the door. Stopping next to Karasuma, he lifted a hand, as if to whisper, and told Karasuma in a low voice, "You've certainly paid me enough, after all."

"...We appreciate it." Karasuma firmly replied. So, the great Ministry of Defence was being bribed by this devilish educator? She shouldn't have expected anything less from him.

"My, aren't you a rational one. I don't mind that in a man." Irina piped up in a sugary tone, as a small smile graced her lips. Gakuhou then turned to face her, a hand on his chest with a modest smile.

"I'm honoured, but…" he began, as he walked towards the window that Teresa was staring in from, causing her to quickly hide her head behind the tree, relying solely on her sense of hearing as he continued, "as principal, I must consider what lies in store next year and beyond—should the Earth survive. In other words, if someone happens to be able to kill you, what will happen to this school?"

He then turned to lean against the window pane, his back now facing Teresa. Hearing the wooden pane creak, she peaked out slightly once more, seeing Karasuma, Irina and Korosensei focussing on him too much to notice her, which worked perfectly in her favour.

"Frankly speaking, we need class E remain as it is," as he said these words, an unreadable emotion flashed pass Korosensei's eyes, which resembled something along the lines like disapproval and dissatisfaction. At the chairman and for his students. He really did put everyone else before himself, a rather convenient weakness.

"As it is? You mean with rock-bottom grades and treatment, like now?" Korosensei questioned. Already predicting where this was going, Teresa turned away and hid behind the tree, not wanting to see the expressions on their faces. She sincerely sympathised with the students in the E class, but she couldn't afford to let her emotions show and get in the way of her mission at hand.

"Yes, are you familiar with the worker ant principle? In any group, twenty percent will be lazy, twenty percent will work hard, and the remaining sixty percent will remain average. My goal is a group composed of five percent slackers and ninety-five percent hard-workers. 'I don't want to be like E class', 'I don't want to be like E class'. By instilling such determination into ninety-five percent of the students, my ideal ratio can be achieved."

She didn't even need to look to know that Korosensei's face was dark. "I see. Logical, indeed. And that's why you must keep the five percent that form the E class weak and pitiful." Gakuhou nodded at that.

"I received a complaint from a D class teacher today: 'A boy from E class glared at my students and threatened to kill him.'" A tick mark appeared on Teresa's forehead, as her hand that was resting on the bark of the tree crushed it slightly. She was so going to teach those two a or two lesson for lying. "I'm sure it's only natural for an assassin to stare daggers at people. That in and of itself is not an issue. The problem…is that a student with rock-bottom grades defied a regular one. Under my policies, that alone cannot stand."

A shadow curtained her eyes, her lips curling into a frown.

"Please tell him that under no uncertain circumstances he is to control himself." He declared, as he pushed himself off the window pane and walked towards the door, before stopping right before it. "Oh, and Korosensei…"

Right at this moment, Teresa decided to peek once more, and saw the chairman abruptly turn around, throwing a puzzle ring towards Korosensei. "Solve this. You have one second." Teresa raised a brow. One second? A Mach 20 monster solving a puzzle ring in one second should a cinch, right?

Apparently not.

"What? Just like that?!" Korosensei exclaimed, catching the rings with a tentacle before moving his tentacles at Mach 20 in a panicked fashion, clearly alarmed by the sudden order. One second later, Teresa watched, thoroughly amused, as Korosensei was on the ground, biting onto a ring and trying to pull it away from his now tangled tentacles. She smirked to herself. So sudden outbursts puts him in a frenzied state? That's another useful weakness.

"You are indeed as fast as they say. There's no doubt you can dodge any attempt on your life," Gakuhou stated matter-of-factly, just as amused as Teresa as he watched Korosensei struggle for a few more seconds before eventually giving up, in an on-hands-and-knees position. "But you know, Korosensei, you can't solve every problem with speed alone." Korosensei kept his head on the ground.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" he said, as he slid open the door, but right before he stepped out, he turned to face Korosensei once more. "Despite what I just said, I must admit, you seemed quite distracted. Was something bothering you?"

"…Yes. To be honest, I've picked up on a foreign scent coming from the forest. Whoever that is has been there for quite some time now." Teresa sucked in a breath as she felt her entire being go cold. Less than a second later, she leaped from the tree and practically flew through the forest, making her way back to the main campus.

No sooner after Korosensei's confession did Karasuma and Irina dash out of the faculty lounge and made their way into the forest, in pursuit of their unknown spy. Unfortunately, it wasn't an easy task, as Teresa made sure not to leave any trails behind as she exited the forest. But one way or another, Karasuma, simply by following his gut intuition, was approaching her direction.

Teresa clicked her tongue, of course it wouldn't be easy to get away from him. Speeding up slightly, she lept from tree to tree and eventually reached the main campus. She quickly run to the ladies room that was at the ground floor, entering it and leaning against the wall to wait for her heart rate to slow down.

Once it did, she turned to face the mirror above the sinks and quickly smoothed out her hair and uniform, and once she made herself presentable, she exited the toilet, just in time to see Karasuma emerge from the forest. She casually walked towards the main campus, not once averting her eyes or turning her head towards his way, as he looked around cluelessly, a tense expression on his face. Teresa sighed inwardly, turns out her target does have a ridiculously keen sense of smell. She's going to have to do something about it on the day she goes to the E class.

No sooner after Karasuma returned into the forest did the chairman step out. Teresa raised a brow from behind the window she was staring out from. He was certainly quick to leave that campus on the mountain and back down here. She was standing right next to the entrance as the chairman walked into the main campus. Noticing her, a mildly surprised look appeared on his face, which disappeared as quickly as it came, replaced with a polite smile.

"Hello, Amano-san. Early as always, I see." She returned his smile with her own.

"Good morning, director. I see you have returned from the E class." She watched as his smile visibly tensed for a moment, before he seemingly regained his composure. "Oh? You saw me exit the forest."

She nodded and hummed in response, before she slowly walked past him. When she was a few paces behind him, she blurted out what she regretted saying later on.

"Chairman Asano doesn't care for **all** of his students, does he?" Gakuhou's eyes widened, his smile falling, and he abruptly turned his head around to face her, only to find no one behind him. Which only served to startle him further. He focussed his gaze on the empty hallway before him for a while, as a certain blonde-haired boy flashed pass his mind. His closed his eyes and promptly cleared his mind of those thoughts, before reopening them, and made his way towards his office. He kept a straight face as he thought about Teresa. His first impression of her was right, she was unique.

Teresa was pissed. At herself. Mere minutes ago, she reminded herself not to show her emotions and jeopardise her mission, and then she went and burst out her inner thoughts. To the damn chairman, of all people, too. She silently groaned and returned to the classroom. Settling down, she leaned back into her seat and let out a sigh.

"Anyhow, one obstacle down…I should proceed with the plan soon. I'll act before the mid-term examinations," she muttered to herself, staring up at the ceiling, eyes dull. Hearing the door slide open, she quickly straightened up, but relaxed when she saw who it was.

"Yo, Ren," she greeted in a laidback manner, watching the teen enter the classroom alone. "Thanks for playing along with my farce all this while."

"No problem at all, Teresa. I figured you wouldn't be in this school because you seriously wanted to, but because it was an order from your father. But, when we faked our first meeting, I had a feeling you really forgot who I was." Ren replied, settling his bag down on his desk.

"That's because I really did. It's been a couple of years since we last met before I came here. Only after I looked up on you, did I remember. Besides, you've changed drastically from back then, I didn't recognise you at all." Teresa nonchalantly replied, ignoring the mental stabs Ren took from hearing those words. "Man, that actually stings…"

Ren was the only one in this entire school who knew who she really was. They met each other when she turned seven, at some grand party. She had trusted him with the secret of her past, something he didn't take too well, in fact, he nearly passed out after hearing the whole story, but managed to get over it eventually. He was familiar with her line of work, although he didn't exactly know it involved assassinating people, but he knew better than to poke his nose where it didn't belong.

"So, I'm not going to bother asking what you're really here for, but I thought I'd tell you this: Seo is spreading a rumour about you." Mildly interested, she glanced his way, signalling him to continue.

"He's saying how you're, he said and I quote, 'a slutty whore' who had confessed him to do him," Ren continued, both parties staring at each other with blank expressions. She sighed with a smile, while he looked at her with a worried gleam in his eyes. "Are you alright with being called stuff like that?"

"Perfectly fine. Only I need to know whether they are true or not, and they aren't, so I'm not concerned. People can think and say what they want, I couldn't care less. I have been surrounded by all kinds of people since young, and I hit puberty before most girls, so I'm used to such scandalous insults. In fact, it's perfect. Exactly what I need." He stared at her intensely before finally speaking up.

"Is your aim to enter the E class?" She narrowed her eyes as she stared back at him, her lips settling into a frown. Ren always was more intuitive than he led others to realise. It would be pointless hiding anything from him, plus there was no one outside or nearing in on them, so it was safe to spill.

"No, but I have to in order to reach my aim. What of it?" Ren gave a nervous smile as he took note of the deadly gleam in her eyes. "Nothing. It's just that I don't think I like the idea of a friend getting insulted for being in the school's reject class." She glanced his way upon hearing the word 'friend', before closing her eyes.

"…I've never considered us as anything more than mere acquaintances." She murmured, loud enough for Ren to hear in the empty classroom, while turning to face away from him. Widening his eyes, he opened his mouth to retort but ultimately choose to shut his mouth. He knew she thought that way because of what she went through, and nothing he did could ever change that. He silently sat down, neither of them speaking as they waited for time to pass.

* * *

Later, in the middle of the day, after the third period, the school grounds were filled with students from other classes, who were having their lunch. Teresa quickly spotted the chairman among the crowd, smiling and greeting students. Suddenly, there was a brown tornado that formed on the top of the mountain where the E class was at, rousing all the students' curiosity as they screamed about how there was a tornado. Teresa sweatdropped at the crazy sight. 'Holy-…don't tell me that's the target's doing…' she thought to herself.

"What the heck is that?" Ren questioned, a look of disbelief as he stared out of the window, now next to her.

"…A tornado?"

"I know it's a tornado! Why is there a tornado on the mountain that E class is on?!" Ren questioned once more. "Even if you asked me, I wouldn't know. I've been here this whole time…"

"…Do you really need to go up there?"

"Yes."

"No, do you really-"

"YES. Now shuddap and go back to your seat." She snapped, dropping all formalities for that brief moment, her words thick with her British accent. Sulking, Ren slowly stalked back to his desk and slumped in his seat. She groaned slightly, while she appreciated the fact that he cared about her, she couldn't afford to let someone else's concerns to affect her plans. Not when she's come so far. She took the job, and she intends to follow through to the end and finish it.

* * *

Gakushuu threw a glance Teresa's way. He had heard the rumours of her spreading around school. He found out that it was Seo who spread it, but when he confronted him about it, Seo had paled slightly, and was, dare he say it, frightened, all the while refusing to say anything. Goes without saying, it piqued his interest.

He blinked in surprise when she met his eyes, her chin resting on her palm, the usual smile on her lips, but with a bored look in her eyes. It was the first time he was able to read her emotions, so obviously he was confused as hell, as well as allured. He was rather surprised with himself as well, for he never had such immense interest towards anyone, much less an individual from the opposite gender. In fact, he never really liked how girls sometimes threw themselves at him for his looks. It was truly detestable to him.

When break came about, Teresa rose from her seat and approached Gakushuu with a small smile. "Asano-kun, there's something I'd like to talk to you about. In private. Can we go up to the rooftop?" she asked, ignoring the sceptical looks she received from the rest of the class, except Ren, no doubt thinking she was after Gakushuu as well. Gakushuu noticed their reactions and how Teresa remained unfazed, so he simply complied, trailing behind her as they left the classroom.

Once they reached the rooftop, Gakushuu stood in front of the door that led to the stairs, and Teresa stood a distance in front of him, staring out of the fence that surrounded them. "So, what did you want to talk about, Amano-san?" he questioned, not knowing exactly what to expect. Taking a deep breath, Teresa began speaking.

"Asano-kun…isn't the type of person who would spread ridiculous, crummy rumours out of spite when angered, right?" she asked. Her voice sounded shaky, as if she were truly afraid as of this moment. Of course, it was just an act, but it was enough to fool Gakushuu. "No, I wouldn't."

"I see… that's a relief. That means I was right about you, Asano-kun."

"What do you-"

"You'd do things far worse to show who's in command, right?" Her tone was still so sweet and innocent, it took him a moment to register what she had said, and when he finally did, he didn't know what else to be besides shocked. "…Eh?"

"Hmm? Am I wrong?" she turned her body slightly, while she faced him, an innocent-looking beam on her face. To say he was completely baffled would be an understatement, and he was having trouble keeping up with what she was getting at. "Amano-san, exactly…what is it that you want to tell me?"

She briefly closed her eyes as she turned around completely, before reopening them, this time a serious look in her eyes, which was a first for Gakushuu, who immediately straightened his posture. "Let's end this."

"...Huh? What do you mean? End what?" Gakushuu questioned, a hint of irritation laced in his voice, clearly upset by the fact that he didn't understand what was going through her mind. Her smile broadened upon hearing his words. Him getting riled up wasn't part of her plan, since the chances of that happening, according to her calculations, weren't that high, but she did put that into account, and it would work well with her favour, so she decided to just go with the flow.

"Everything. I want to end whatever this," she paused, her hand gesturing to each other, before continuing, "is."

"I'm afraid I don't follow-"

"Then let me put it bluntly: I'm sick and tired of you trying to find out who I truly am, just so that you can manipulate me and use it to your advantage," she replied, using the same tone she had used when she spoke to Seo. At this, Gakushuu's eyes widened, taken aback not just by her harsh tone, but also by the very words she said. "How…when-"

"I was aware of your motives from the first day, when you decided to...'befriend' me, if that's what you'd call it. Honestly speaking, considering you are the chairman's son, your intentions were as clear as day. To me at least," Teresa cut him off, already knowing what his questions were. His baffled expression morphed into an angered one, with furrowed brows, narrowed eyes, and a dirty scowl. "So, you knew…and decided to play along and lead me on, is that it?"

"If that's how you want to call it. I didn't mean to lead you on…actually I did, but that's because I knew you're personality all too well, and didn't want you to manipulate me, so I pretended to be the innocent, goody-two-shoes you knew. If you weren't such a person, I wouldn't have minded being honest from the beginning." She told him, the usual blank look whenever she wasn't acting on her face. A shadow was cast over Gakushuu's eyes as he digested every word she said.

"Do you think you would get away with this, now that you've revealed you true self to me?" His voice was low, with an underlying threat that Teresa detected immediately. She gave a smirk as she walked towards Gakushuu, closing the distance between them till she was right in front of him, her face inches from his.

"My true self, you say? Sorry to break it to you, hon, but you've barely scratched the surface. This is just another side of me, one I have no qualms against showing you. You still don't know shit about me. You will never know or understand me entirely, because I don't," she hissed, and his eyes widened at her last words. Just when he looked up to meet her eyes, she waltzed right past him.

"So simply speaking, I want you to stay out of my way, and I'll stay out of yours. Fair enough, don't you think?" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes at how…bitchy she sounded. She never behaved like this before, but many girls around her age who were daughters of corporations and companies cooperating with Gid behaved like that, so she was simply doing an imitation. A little too well, though.

"Oh, and one more thing. If you tell anyone, including your father, about this," she halted, before turning her face slightly, just enough for her gaze to meet his, directing her assassin bloodlust at him, "I'll kill you. I mean it."

His hands went cold when he heard those words. He didn't think it was possible, but he had a feeling she was capable of doing so, and he didn't think it would be right to underestimate her. He simply stood there, dumbfounded, his mind swirling with thoughts on how he should act, as he listened to her footsteps grow more faint with each passing second, disappearing eventually.

Teresa hummed cheerfully as she made her way towards the classroom. Gakushuu's reactions were much better than she had expected, and everything was going according to plan. She just needed to wait for his move, and she would be going to the E class in no time. Suddenly, Ren appeared beside her. She kept her façade as she continued walking.

"Good morning, Sakakibara-kun. Do you need something from me?"

"…You were on the rooftop with Asano-kun earlier, weren't you?"

"So it was you at the door." She muttered. She had sensed someone's presence at the door of the stairs to the rooftop, but wasn't sure if it was Ren or not.

"Yes, it was. Mind telling me what you meant?"

"…It's none of your business. I don't intend to actually kill him or anything. Just inflicting some fear into him. I don't know exactly how he is going to react though." She replied, her tone cold, which immediately shut Ren up for the rest of the way back to class.

For the rest of the day, Gakushuu kept pondering over her words, which resulted in him getting distracted during class, but he was able to quickly cover up with an apology and a charismatic smile. Teresa frowned slightly, she really didn't want to hurt him, or anyone, unnecessarily, but she had no choice in order to enter the E class without arousing suspicion from either Gakushuu or Gakuhou. Oh well, they were too nosy for their own good to begin with, so there's not much of a choice for her.

The lessons given by the teachers here on the main campus were terribly inefficient and fast. The chairman's lessons were, without a doubt, much better, but a whole lot faster. Not that she had any trouble keeping up, but now she could see why there would be students who don't score well on their examinations. Sure, if they studied by themselves, they should be alright, but if the teachers don't do a proper job explaining, it would be all for naught. She was more than assured that if she weren't an assassin, she would be getting rock-bottom scores.

Then again, there were those insanely intelligent ones like Gakushuu or Karma, who would understand everything with the most minimal explanation, followed by self-studying, and get top-notch scores. Karma would be neck to neck with Gakushuu if he were more serious about it… Not that it mattered to her.

Teresa realised that lately, whenever she wasn't thinking about the mission, her mind would drift off to think of these two. They had so much in common: good grades, good looks, excellent in sports and martial arts, and terrible personalities. Gakushuu liked to be in control and showed those beneath him who was in control, while Karma doesn't take well to being bossed around and give over-the-top 'punishments' to those who rub him the wrong way. Then again, that was the two of them just being competitive in their own ways…

Why did she even begin to think about them whenever she had the time? 'Do I have a thing for jerky geniuses or something?' Teresa mentally mused to herself, as she half-heartedly listened to her teacher.

When the last lesson finally ended, she slowly rose from her seat, slinging her bag over her shoulder, and as she walked towards the door, when she was right in front of Gakushuu, she turned to him with the usual fake smile on her face. "Goodbye, Asano-kun. See you tomorrow!"

Gakushuu tensed slightly for a brief moment, it wasn't noticeable to the rest of the class, but Teresa caught it, before he returned the gesture with a fake smile of his own. "Likewise, Amano-san." Teresa smirked slightly at that and made her way out. She ignored the obvious gossiping about her around her as she made her way out of school. Approaching the gate, she briefly closed her eyes and let out a sigh, before eliciting a pained wince as her arm bumped into someone. When she reopened her eyes, she instantly recognised the man in front of her: Karasuma Tadaomi.

"Ah, my apologies. I didn't see you there," he quickly said, looking down at her. She gave a polite smile and shook her head. "No, it is I who wasn't looking. I apologise."

"I see."

"By the way, you are a teacher of the E class, aren't you?" She saw his eyes held a glint of irritation upon hearing those words, which disappeared as soon as it came when he heard her next words. "I saw that tornado on the mountain where the E class is. Is anyone hurt? Are Karma-san and Nagisa-san alright?"

Karasuma stared at the young girl before her, the obvious look of shock and confusion on his face, before it morphed into a warm smile. 'So there are students in the main campus who care about students in the E class?' He thought to himself.

"Yes. Fortunately, no one was hurt. That tornado wasn't all too serious, so there's no harm done." Teresa gave a sigh of relief, before looking up to meet his gaze. "I must say though, that tornado was obviously unnatural. Was it someone's handiwork?"

She watched attentively towards Karasuma's every reaction: the way he stiffened ever so slightly, how his eyebrow flinched, and the fact that the corner of his mouth twitched. So it was Korosensei's doing, after all…

"…Who knows. I honestly doubt anyone would have been able to make a tornado," Karasuma replied, his voice firm and strong, but the way he avoided eye contact by closing his eyes didn't pass by hers. 'Yeah, anyone human, that is.' She thought to herself, swallowing down the laugh that threatened to erupt.

"I see. Well, it's a relief to know that everyone was unharmed!" She exclaimed, before quickly excusing herself before he would get suspicious of her. Karasuma stared at her retreating form for a moment, watching her as she entered a limo that had been waiting at the gate, before he continued making his way towards the main campus.

* * *

Another week passed by, and it was just a few days before the midterm examinations. The rumours spread by Seo about her had died down after he started dating Tsuchiya Kaho. Once again, Teresa had reached class earlier than everyone else and was silently waiting when a girl from class 3-C, who just so happens to be Kaho, came to the door.

"You're Amano Teresa, right?" Kaho asked, a sweet smile on her face, that looked so sweet it was clearly fake. Teresa simply smiled and nodded. "Come with me for a moment, will you?" She silently complied and followed her to an empty classroom, which was usually used for home economics.

The brunette leaned against the edge of the table and her once innocent-looking smile instantly morphed in a ferocious glare, directed at her, clearly trying to intimidate her. But hey, she wasn't even scared of Karma, so there's no way she would be afraid of her. She, standing right in front of the half-open door, let out a chuckle, taking her by surprise, and asked, "So, what do you need from me, Tsuchiya-san?"

"So, you know my name? That makes things easier. I heard that you tried to force Seo-kun into doing…s-stuff with you." She raised a brow at the way she stuttered.

"Um, say 'stuff' again."

"S-S-Stuff…" Was it just her, or was Kaho blushing?

"…Why are you stuttering, Tsuchiya-san? And could you be more specific about what 'stuff' you are referring to? 'Cause there's a whole lot of things that could be referred to as 'stuff'." She watched as Kaho turned beet red with fury-filled humiliation.

"I'm referring to indecent sexual interaction!" She all but shrieked in embarrassment. Teresa mentally thanked god that it was too early for many students around, or else even she would be embarrassed if Kaho's outburst were heard.

"Um…I have no recollection of making such a sentiment."

"Don't play dumb! He told me you said you wanted him for his body!"

"Like I said, I didn't make such a remark."

"Are you trying to say Seo-kun lied? How dare you?!" She wanted to laugh at her shallow-mindedness. How was she so charmed by those guys that she'd believe every word they say? Talk about naïve.

"Could you get to the point? I'd like to return to class soon." She said with a levelled tone. The girl had a dissatisfied look before smirking at her, causing her to raise a brow, amused.

"I heard you're on rather friendly with those losers in class E," she began, and Teresa lost her smile, realising where this was going and not liking it one bit. "If you don't stay away from Seo-kun, or anyone else from the Five Virtuosos, including Asano-kun, I promise, I'll get the students from the main campus to make their lives a living hell."

A shadow curtained her eyes, as she remained silent against all the threats the foolish girl made. She knew that they weren't empty, which meant it wasn't a good thing, because it was not part of her plan.

"Now, say 'I'm very sorry, Tsuchiya-sama'!" Kaho sneered, coming up to Teresa's face.

"…ou."

"Huh? I can't hear you!" she exclaimed with a crazed look on her face.

"I…you."

"Huh?!"

"…I'll kill you."

At this, Kaho blinked in confusion, watching Teresa take two steps back, before doing a spinning back-kick, destroying the classroom door in the process, knocking it right off its hinges and landing on the ground outside the classroom in a broken mess of rubble. That was when she realised her choice of not taking Teresa's previous words seriously the moment she heard them was fatal.

The brunette gasped and cowered in fear, sweating profusely as Teresa towered over her and brought her face close to hers, the promise of death in her eyes and an sadistic smirk on her lips.

"Should I try doing that to your face?" she murmured, her breath fanning the brunette's face, sending shivers done her spine, as she backed up to the table, the same look of fear on her face. "It'll probably make a face that you won't ever be able to look at in a mirror ever again, don't you think?"

"I don't mind being a murderer, as of right now." Kaho squeaked in fear upon hearing those words. 'She wasn't serious, was she?' Unfortunately for her, she was. Kaho kept opening and closing her mouth, seeming to try to say something, but eventually failing, which simply made her look like a gaping fish.

"I'm not going to ask for an apology or anything, not like I need it. But if you're frightened of me, then make sure you never go near me or any student in the E class. Do I make myself clear?" Kaho shook visibly as she dumbly nodded in response. Teresa then stepped to the side, watching Kaho stumbling her way out of the classroom.

"Oh, and one more thing." Kaho froze, fear evident on her face, awaiting her next words. "If you tell anyone, be it Seo, the Five Virtuosos, your classmates, even Asano-kun, about what just happened, I'll make you regret it." The cold tone at the end caused a shiver to run down Kaho's spine, who simply bit the inside of her cheeks before scampering away.

When Kaho's footsteps could no longer be heard, she turned around and walked out of the classroom and quickly looked around. There were no security cameras that had this particular classroom in view. She sighed in relief. Her recent course of actions wasn't part of her plan, so she really didn't want the chairman to catch her in action.

Her eyes fell to the broken mess, before she bent down to clear all evidence of her violent actions, tying it up in a trash bag before jumping out of the nearest window and taking the shortest route that was out of sight of Gakuhou's monitor, towards the large recycling bin and tossing it in. It was going to be cleared today, so no one's going to know what happened to it. People are only going to know there's a missing door. She quickly made her way back to the building and returned to her classroom.

As she settled in her seat, she took out her own monitor and saw the chairman in his office, typing away on a laptop, seeming to be doing some work. Switching over to the camera behind him, she squinted as she tried to make out what was on the screen of his laptop, which resembled an email. Her eyes trailed to the name of the receiver and recognised it as one of her teacher's. She furrowed her brows, why did he have to email them instead of telling them directly? Not that it mattered to her.

As the day progressed, Teresa mused at the fact that she was still being called a 'princess' despite the rumours, at least by the boys. All the girls, including those three that had always surrounding her, had stopped talking to her completely. She was grateful for the decreased attention, but having only guys speaking to her only fuelled the girls' anger and hatred towards her. Again, not that it mattered, since it was part of her plan.

* * *

When school ended, she decided that she wanted to walk home by herself. As she walked past a certain alley, she heard groans and moans of pain echoing, and hid behind a wall, peeking out to see…Karma engaged in a fight with a gang, with Nagisa watching from a distance behind. She continued watching until Karma was done, he dropped the guy he had been one-sidedly fighting, who fell to the ground with a heavy thud, and turned to the corner she was hiding behind.

"I know you're there, come out," he ordered, high on alert, but immediately relaxed when he saw who it was. Nagisa, who had a resigned look on his face, immediately brightened up upon seeing her. "Teresa-san!"

"Hey, you two," she said, waving awkwardly towards them, as she carefully walked over the piles of fallen bodies, before stopping before the two. "So, what happened? I know Karma wouldn't start a fight unless he were provoked."

At this, Nagisa let out a nervous laugh while Karma smirked. "Man, do you know me well, Teresa-chan!"

"What did I say about adding '-chan' to my name?" complained Teresa, unintentionally pouting cutely with a slight pink hue on her cheeks. His once smug smirk morphed into a sadistic one.

"It's fine, isn't it? Or would you rather I call you by your newly dubbed nickname, 'princess'?" Her eyes grew wide as she stared at Karma with a dumbfounded expression on her face. "How did you-"

"I have my ways," he simply relied, shrugging. She puffed up her cheeks in annoyance and neared Karma. "C'mon, tell me! How did you know?"

"Nope! Not telling!"

"Karma-san!"

"No can do~!"

"Meanie!" What the heck was she doing?! She sounded so childish right now! This was so unbecoming of her!

"Calm down, both of you!" Nagisa exclaimed, raising both hands towards the two. Teresa pulled herself together and calmed down. "Anyways, seriously though, what happened?"

"Ah…actually Karma-kun and I were walking back home through this way, but one of these guys grabbed me and was intending to beat me up, but Karma managed to save me," Nagisa explained, before sighing in exasperation. "Although I do think he went overboard…"

Teresa laughed at that. "That's Karma-san for you!"

"You're not going back home on your limo today, Teresa-chan?" Karma asked, causing her eye to twitch at the '-chan', but she ultimately chose to ignore it. "Yeah, I felt like walking back today. It was just on a whim, though."

"Then, would you like to hang out with us? We were just about to go out for a bite together," Nagisa suggested, and Teresa happily complied.

"By the way, I noticed that Karma-san and Nagisa-san hang out together a lot, just the two of you. Are you two, by any chance, dating or something?" Teresa asked teasingly, causing Nagisa to flush a bright crimson while Karma simply raised a brow.

"Wha-?! Of course not! I'm a guy!" Nagisa exclaimed in bewildered embarrassment.

"I'm flattered you think so, but I don't swing that way," Karma simply stated with a straight face. Teresa chuckled at their reactions, thoroughly amused.

"I'm just teasing, don't need to get all worked up, Nagisa-san! Come on, let's go and eat! I'm starving!" she exclaimed, pulling the two of them along, completely oblivious to the sound of a camera snapping.

* * *

Gakushuu sat in his room, typing out some documents on his laptop when an email came in. Opening the folder attached to it, he smirked at the images that appeared on the screen. Perfect. Now all he needed was the right time to drop the bomb. He was going to make _her_ regret using him, and have her in his complete and utter control.

"You're finished, Amano Teresa."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Please review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	6. His Unseen Blackmail, Her Tough Sitch

**Hello my dear readers. Please don't kill me. I was busy with examinations and catching up with studies the past couple of months, since I was falling behind my peers. So, I had actually began on this chapter quite some time ago, but had to stop due to the afore mentioned reasons, and was finally able to complete it. I am already halfway through the next chapter, so if I'm lucky, it would be done by this month. Also, I received a few reviews on my Fairy Tail fanfiction, 'Falling in love with my rival', so if any of you readers are the ones who posted those reviews, I'd like to take the opportunity to thank you and inform you that I will get started on the next chapter soon, so do look forward to it. Anyhow, please enjoy this chapter!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters (if I did, I'd probably had made Nagisa a girl and KarmaxNagisa canon)**

* * *

Chapter 6: His Unseen Blackmail, Her Tough Sitch

"Eh...your teacher wants your entire class to rank in the top 50 places for the upcoming mid-term examinations?" Teresa questioned with a baffled look on her face, as she took a bite from the onigiri she had ordered, and stared across the table, where the two boys sat. Karma played with a straw using his mouth, while Nagisa gave a dejected sigh. "Yeah. You think it's impossible too, don't you, Teresa-san?"

"No, I don't think it's impossible, in fact I believe that quite a number of you from the E class are capable of doing so. However, that's going to be one tough wall to climb over," Teresa replied, the once baffled look now morphed into a concerned one. Korosensei must've decided on such a goal to prove the chairman wrong after hearing his words, and he's going to dig his own grave by doing so, no doubt about it.

"You really think it's possible?" Nagisa asked, his tone surprised and hopeful.

"Yes, I do, but I don't think it's going to happen in this examinations."

"What makes you think so?" Karma asked, now looking at her with a blank expression, his mood seeming to dampen slightly, which she immediately noticed,

"Well, if the chairman happens to know about this...goal of yours, there's no doubt he's going to do something about. Personally, at that," Teresa replied. In fact, judging by his words back when he was talking to Korosensei, he had already proceeded to do so. And if she didn't know better, the sudden taking over of lessons for the past few days were just the beginning.

Karma nodded in understanding and agreement, while Nagisa seemingly wilted, devastation written all over his face. Noticing his dejected form, Teresa quickly spoke up. "But! I'm sure you'll do well. And by the end of this year, your class would most likely place in the top 50. I'm sure your teacher will do no less than a perfect job in teaching and tutoring your class."

"Really? Thanks, Teresa-san!"

"No problem! That aside, Nagisa-san…" she trailed off, eyeing the mountain of empty plates surrounding the bluenette, and the incoming plates of sushi. "You really like to eat sushi, don't you?"

"Yeah, it's my favourite," Nagisa replied sheepishly, laughing nervously. Teresa chuckled in response.

"And despite eating this much, you don't grow any bigger or taller?" Hearing her words, Nagisa pouted in annoyance. "That's mean, Teresa-san!"

"Seriously speaking though, you have no physical issues, and it's not like you're malnourished or anything, so why don't you grow, like, at all?" Teresa asked, and Nagisa gave a teary-eyed sulk. "That's what I'd love to know!"

"It's fine, isn't it? With Nagisa-kun this small and cute, he makes perfect bait for delinquents and gangsters, and that'll let me have more fun!" Karma exclaimed, resting an arm on Nagisa's head, who sighed. "I'd rather not face the risk of getting potentially hurt, Karma-kun…"

Teresa and Karma simply laughed in response. She eventually calmed down and smiled as Karma teased and Nagisa complained. She rested her elbow on the table, and her chin on her palm, as she stared at the two endearingly, listening to the exchange between the two. While it looked like she was really enjoying herself on the outside, she was actually observing the two.

It didn't seem that they held any hostility or suspicion towards her, which meant she had successfully insinuated herself into their lives. As long as these two didn't hold anything against her, it would be safe for her to transfer into the E class. Now all she had to do was wait for Gakushuu's move.

While she knew he was going to make a move, she didn't realise he had his own plans in mind. Or that he had gained an extra card to play.

After they had finished eating, they bid one another farewell and went their separate ways. As she walked down the street towards her condominium, all of a sudden, her neck felt prickly, almost as if…

As if someone was watching her.

She whirled around and stared at the empty and dimly-lit street behind her, tense and alert for any form of life, human or not. A few moments passed, and eventually, only a kitten, with white fur that had a blue hue, stepped out. A stray, no doubt. As she picked it up and cradled it in her arms, she looked up once more, but no one came out, nor did she sense anyone's presence. She directed her confused gaze to the kitten and frowned slightly. Maybe it was just her imagination.

She continued her way back down the street, unaware of the silver-haired man who was watching her from around the corner the entire time. A smirk appeared on his lips as he watched the raven-haired girl walking further away from him.

"So that's the assassin Teresa? She certainly is an interesting one. Let's see how fun it would be to break her."

* * *

Gakushuu was making his way to school, thoughts swirling about in his mind. He had overheard his father informing several of their teachers that he was going to take over their classes and broaden the scope across all subjects. After much pondering, he had come to the conclusion that, no doubt, it had something to do with the E class. On top of that, he's had the growing suspicion that his father was hiding something from him. Regarding the E class.

Naturally, being his father's son, he'd want to know what this secret was and use it to control his father. That was how he was raised. After snooping around through his father's study, he had found out that large amounts of money being transferred into his father's bank account. By millions. And when he tried to trace back to whose account it was, it was protected by an insanely strong system, which led him to believe that it was most likely the government. Making things far more suspicious.

And lucky for him, he had the perfect sacrificial lamb for the job. He smirked to himself at the thought of the blackmail material he had got his hands on. Also, just the other day, Tsuchiya Kaho had told him about Teresa's violent display of strength and act of vandalism by destroying that door.

Normally he would report about this to the chairman, but this time he was going to use it to his own advantage. As he approached the main campus, Teresa's words from that day on the rooftop suddenly echoed in his mind.

' _You will never know or understand me entirely, because I don't.'_

Just what had she meant by that? Who wouldn't understand themselves? Was there really more to her than she had revealed to him? Not that it was necessary for him to know. At least not right now. When he entered the classroom, he immediately noticed her, leaning back into her chair as she looked out of the window, as usual, with an utterly bored look on her face.

Settling down his bag on the table, he walked up to her desk. Noticing his approaching form, she turned her head to face him, a small smile on her face. It wasn't as bright as usual.

"Good morning, Asano-kun."

"Good morning, Amano-san. You seem a little down today. Is something wrong?" he asked, and Teresa's eyes narrowed slightly at the thought of the events that had occurred that morning, before closing them completely and covering it up with a smile.

"No, nothing happened. I'm fine, just a little tired. Is there something you need from me?" she said, looking at him expectantly.

"Yes. May I have some of your time after school today. There's something I need to discuss with you. Personally," he replied. Ignoring the pointed glares directed at her, she nodded in agreement. As he turned around to return to her seat while she turned to look out the window, both teens had the biggest urge to smirk triumphantly. Things were going according as planned, for both of them.

For the rest of the day, he watched Teresa as his father gave a lecture on the new topics that were to be tested for their upcoming examinations. He noticed his father had taken it upon himself to ask Teresa more than a few questions, to each she was unable to answer perfectly. He was no doubt suspicious as to why she couldn't answer them, considering the fact that his father's teachings were, as much as he hated to admit, no less than perfect, but it helped with his plan. He noticed her increasing annoyance towards the chairman in her eyes, and knew that something did happen to her in the morning.

Teresa was so damn tempted to kill someone right now. And this goddamned chairman looked like the perfect target. It was clear that he was purposely targeting her, asking her all the supposedly complicated questions, which was as easy as elementary school stuff for her. But she continued to fake her inability to comprehend his questions for the purpose of the plan. It was becoming a huge pain in the ass, not to mention what had happened that morning had already pissed her off.

* * *

 _Teresa had just woken up, and_ _was getting ready to go to school, when her iPhone vibrated. Picking up the phone, Gid's name flashed on the screen and she raised a brow, sliding her thumb across the screen to pick up the call. What was so important that he had to call her this early in the morning._ _Did he receive some sort of update regarding her assassination mission? She placed the phone to her ear._

" _Gid-sama? Why are you calling me?" she asked._

" _...Teresa...do you have any interest in...a political marriage?" Her mind literally went blank for a moment, every last thought evaporated from her mind. Noticing this, Edward, who was playing Tsum Tsum on his phone, paused his game and looked up to stare at her, half concerned and half amused._

" _...Excuse me?"_

" _It's just that, it has come to my attention that I need an heir for the company in the future, and I have no sons, so I need to appoint one of my future son-in-laws as my heir. And Lala, Nana, and Momo are still too young to be engaged. You are my eldest daughter, and you have three years before it could happen, so it is only natural that you should be the one to get engaged first, and your partner would be the heir."_

 _Teresa remained silent as she processed this information, breathing through her nose in an attempt to remain calm. But when she spoke, her tone was anything but calm. It was colder than ever._

" _So, it seems you've forgotten how I feel about being around men, and you want to reduce me to a prostitute for you to get an heir?"_

 _Edward continued staring, frowning slightly at the unfamiliarly cold tone. She only got upset this easily when she was...on her period._

" _I'm nothing more than a goddamn tool for your advantage, huh?" she snapped, and Gid and Edward both widened their eyes, hearing the burning anger laced in her cold tone. She was clearly out for Gid's blood now._

" _N-No, I-"_

" _Listen to me now, you mister. If you so much as bring up the topic of arranged marriages or even suggest it, you're so fucking dead. I'll slit your throat, lope off your head, cut off your balls and feed it to the dogs, and then I'll-!"_

" _OKAY! I GOT IT! HANGING UP NOW!" Gid shrieked in fear, knowing that she was being more than a hundred percent serious, ending the call. She switched off her phone, fuming as she stormed past Edward, who was a giggling mess, biting hard on his bottom lip, stifling his laughter as tears spilled from his eyes._

" _Quit laughing and get your butt in the gear. I need you to drive me to school," she growled, and Edward immediately straightened up and walked towards the limo, his body still trembling from his laughing. Teresa rolled her eyes as she plopped down into the leather back seat of the car. She could not believe all this shit happened and it was only 6.45 in the morning._

* * *

She let out a low groan and slammed her head on the desk, the loud sound of her forehead connecting with the desk echoing throughout the classroom. Gakuhou paused in the middle of his long lecture, which was about relations and functions, and directed his attention towards her, a mildly amused expression on his face. Ren peered at the raven-haired girl, eyes filled with worry and concern.

"Is something wrong, Amano-san? Something you don't understand, or are you perhaps catching up with your sleep?" Teresa slowly rose her head, habitually sweeping her fringe to the side, so much so that her left eye was revealed when she opened, exposing the red and green bi-coloured eye for only a brief moment, before it got covered by her fringe once more. Nonetheless, Gakushuu saw it, and was more than a little surprised. It looked...deadly. He could literally see the bloodlust it contained, even though it was just a brief moment.

"No, it's nothing. I apologise for disrupting your lesson. Please continue," she replied, giving an apologetic smile. With that, he continued the lesson. While Gakushuu was slightly curious as to why she did that, it, once again, worked perfectly in his favour.

When the last lesson ended, Teresa packed her stuff into her bag, before holding it in front of her, as she approached Gakushuu's desk, and patiently waited for him, once again ignoring all the stares and glares she received. As Ren walked towards the door, he stopped beside Teresa, and leaned over slightly so that his lips were at her ear level.

"Did something happen this morning? You seemed more easily...agitated than per usual," he whispered. Unbeknownst to him, Gakushuu, who remained tense for a moment, was able to hear him, and waited for Teresa's reply.

Seeing the look on Gakushuu's face, she knew he heard Ren's words. "You need not to be concerned, Sakakibara-san. It isn't a big deal," she replied, a small smile on her face.

'Not a big deal', her foot. She was still enraged by Gid's words, and was more than willing to cut the bastard into two. Hearing her response, Ren simply nodded and walked out of the classroom, while Gakushuu stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder. He turned to face Teresa and gave his usual smile. "Shall we?"

"Sure!"

* * *

The walk was, for the lack of a better word, awkward. Now out of school grounds and far away from school, the two walked side by side with indifferent looks on their faces, not saying a word to each other. Tired of and slightly frustrated by the suspense, she, without looking at Gakushuu or changing her expression, asked with a groan, "Are you going to tell me where we're going, or just leave me following you blindly?"

"We're almost there, be patient," Gakushuu replied, an authoritative tone in his voice. Teresa silently clicked her tongue, before taking out her black and red earbuds and shoved them in her ears, blasting speed metal music through them. Since it was completely silent between them, Gakushuu could make out the melody of the song and raised a brow, now facing her.

"You listen to Angel Vivaldi?" Despite how loud her music was, she could hear every word he had said, and simply nodded in response. "I've always preferred rock and speed metal music. I do enjoy slow, serenade-like songs every now and then."

"Like?"

"I guess 'Perfect' by One Direction is nice...and 'Kokoro no Kagi' by May J., and- wait, why am I even telling you this?" She questioned, narrowing her eyes towards Gakushuu, who simply shrugged. "Because I asked?"

She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

The two soon found themselves standing in front of a rather high-class looking cafe. The place was extremely elegant-looking, every inch decorated with very light and cheerful-coloured flowers, giving it a very fairy tale feel to it. Which she was already starting to hate.

"I never pegged you for the flowery type, Asano-kun," she taunted, a smirk on her face, which was returned with a frown. "I picked this place for its service, not its appearance. They have a very strong policy to not share private information about their customers. Like what they talk about."

Hearing those words, Teresa mentally thanked the gods that Gakushuu was almost as cautious as she was. They were soon led into a two-person booth, and settled into the seats at the opposite ends. After ordering a strawberry parfait for herself, while he got himself a espresso, she finally spoke up once more.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" she questioned with a nonchalant look on her face, taking a sip from her parfait. A serious look came over Gakushuu's face, one she decided she quite liked, before finally speaking.

"I need you to infiltrate the E class." A small smile appeared on her lips, and she tilted her head to the side. "And just what about the E class has gotten so interesting to you, Asano-kun? I mean, I think I deserve to know that much, since you are asking me for a favour."

"There is definitely something my father is hiding, not just from me, but also from everyone else, some secret regarding the E class. He has protected his computer from any more attacks I can make, and I can't trace back to the bank statements from which he received all that extra money. And it wouldn't be inconspicuous if I, or anyone from the Five virtuosos, were to get themselves transferred into the E class."

"And it would be if it is me?" she scoffed. If anything, she would be catching the most attention. A transfer student, who scored full marks for every subject for her entrance examination, falling into the E class, because of poor grades. If that doesn't scream suspicious, that what does?

"True, it may not be. But, with your behaviour the past few days, you can play it off as lacking sleep or being unable to keep up in class. And if I didn't know better, you really are. For both options." he replied, digging into his bag for something as he spoke. She raised a brow. Then he really didn't know better, since he doesn't even realise it was an act. Well, except for the part she banged her head onto the desk. But that was for a completely different reason. "And why should I assist you?"

"I was just getting to that. Well, we can start with how I would tell the whole school, including Seo, about your violent outburst towards Tsuchiya. I wonder how he would react to that." He began, a triumphant smirk on his lips as he watched Teresa's eye twitch slightly despite keeping a neutral look on her face. Looks like she's really come to despise Seo. "Tsuchiya may be afraid to defy what you told her to do, which is to leave the E class alone, but I'm sure the rest of the school wouldn't."

"...Is that all the blackmail you have? I certainly hope that you didn't think that is all it would take for me to cave in and be your obedient little dog," she taunted, playing defiant. If she was too compliant, it would arouse Gakushuu's suspicions as to her motive behind coming to this school. She definitely didn't expect what Gakushuu threw at her next.

"I'm so glad you asked," he replied, as he pulled a folder out of his bag, before sliding it across the table to Teresa. Raising a brow, she opened up the folder and emptied it of its contents: photographs. Picking up the stack, her eyes grew wider and wider with each picture she saw. She looked back up at Gakushuu, who had a smug smirk on his face, with an aghast look on her face. "I'm sure a certain red-haired guy would love to see these."

'When the hell did he-' she thought to herself, as she studied the blackmail material in her hands. It was all pictures of her, watching Karma fight delinquents and gangsters in alleys, from around the corner. For the past few weeks, Teresa had been, totally coincidentally, constantly bumping into Karma, sometimes along with Nagisa and Kayano, each and every time Karma was fighting and she was watching from the corner. Karma knew she was watching, but the angle that these photos were taken...made her look like a deranged stalker. Something Karma would, without a doubt, tease her for the rest of her life.

She tightened her grip on the photos, contemplating whether or not to destroy them now. 'No, this is Gakushuu we're talking about. He's giving the hard copy to me so easily because he already has the softcopy hidden away.' she thought to herself, before putting the photos back into the folder, her head down, causing her hair to cover her face. She was furious, without a doubt, but still, to have such photos of her taken...

She tightened her grip onto the folder and bit her lower lip, Gakushuu watching all the while with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. "So, do we have a deal?" He lost his high from winning momentarily when Teresa her head, revealing her angry, flushed expression. Her eyes were narrowed, glaring slightly when her eyes met Gakushuu's.

She was beyond embarrassed. Not only is her reputation as an assassin damaged by the evidence of her lack of attention to her surroundings, he managed to get her in such a suggestive posture, in the worst possible way. This was utter humiliation. "...Fine, I'll do it."

The victorious look returned to his face as he smirked in response. "Perfect. So, what you're going to do is get into the class and find out what it is that's going on that my father doesn't want anyone to know. You will report your findings to me weekly, and naturally, you are not to breathe a word about this to anyone. In return, you secret remains in the dark. With me."

"How reassuring." She replied sarcastically. " I have a question though. Why are you desperate to find out this little secret your father has?" she asked, already knowing what the response would be.

"To blackmail my father into being my loyal dog. If I'm right, and I always am, this secret is just the thing I need," Gakushuu answered bluntly, while Teresa stared at him with a mildly surprised look.

"That's messed up. Not that I have anything against it, though," she replied, taking another sip from her parfait. Gakushuu studied her intensely, as if expecting her to continue speaking. She fidgeted uncomfortable before speaking up, in exasperation, once more. "If there's something you want to say, then spit it out already, instead of just staring at me!"

"No, it's just that I'm surprised. You aren't against the fact that I'm trying to blackmail my father, and you didn't question on my lack of respect for my father's privacy."

"Wow, so you are aware of what an inconsiderate, disrespectful and jerky brat you are." she deadpanned, but he easily brushed it off. "But, yeah, I don't really care. I mean, it's your family, so it's your business, not mine. Although it may have just become mine since you are asking me of this...but yeah, I won't pry."

"I see…"

"Besides, I was getting tired of being in the main campus," she added, causing Gakushuu to raise a brow, silently questioning that though. As if hearing his silent question, she emphasized further.

"I'm tired of being around pretentious people, who are constantly being something they're not, as well as heartless people who don't give a second thought how the insensitive garbage they spew affects the person they direct it to," she stated, before looking to Gakushuu with a straight face him. "While it's annoying that you are the first, you aren't too much of the second, since you think before you speak, and have the bite to back up your bark, so you aren't all detestable. If only you could do something about your obnoxiously arrogant nature, you'd be, quite literally, perfect."

"...Should I take that as a compliment or insult?" he slowly questioned, unsure of how to take her words.

"It is a compliment, but you're going take it as an insult with my next words."

"Which would be?"

"You are exactly the same as Karma in that aspect." She deadpanned, looking at Gakushuu with a straight face, but with a mischievous glint in her eyes. One that he didn't miss, causing him to click his tongue in irritation.

"Are you suggesting that I'm on the same level as Akabane?"

"No, I'm stating it. As a fact."

"Yeah, I take that as an insult." he snapped, before finishing the last of his cup of coffee, and slowly rising out of his seat. Slinging his bag, he looked over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. "This never happened, and we go back to being mere acquaintances."

"The feeling's mutual." Watching his retreating form disappear after leaving the cafe, she quickly finished her parfait, before proceeding to crash the cup onto the table and crushing it in her hand simultaneously, reducing the glass cup to a pile of broken shards. She ignored the skeptical looks of the surrounding customers and staff, as well as the pain in her currently bleeding hand.

A familiarly cold look resurfaced as she gritted her teeth. She was downright livid. To think she got bested by a mere junior high school student...sure, Gakushuu was anything but a mere student, but that still didn't seem to justify the fact that he got the better of her. And she wasn't having any of it. She kept her composure till now, and she was ready to let loose.

"Goddammit. Asano Gakushuu, you're gonna regret making a fool out of me," she growled beneath her breath, barely noticing a waitress nervously approach her. When she did, she turned to face her, a slight glare on her face. "What?"

"Um, I'm going to need you to pay for damaging the cup…" Teresa raised a brow. Just the cup?

"What about the drinks?"

"Ah, Asano-sama already paid for them." Teresa scoffed. A gentleman through and through. If he could do something about his character, he'd be the perfect gentleman. But that'd make things boring, now, wouldn't it? She clicked her tongue in annoyance and got up, following the waitress to pay for the damages.

As she left, she shoved her earphones into her ears once more and blasted music. She made her way back with her hands in her pockets, twitching eagerly to beat the crap out of someone. "Ah~. The punching bag isn't going to be enough today. Better call Edward over."

* * *

"Wow, you're on fire today, aren't you, Teresa?" Edward teased, rather breathlessly at that, as he evaded a high kick that came flying his way. Teresa growled slightly in response as she threw in a barrage of punches in an erratic order.

"Something happened, which wasn't according to my plans, and is actually putting me in a rather tight position," she replied, irritation more and more obvious on her face with each attack that didn't connect. She growled, animalistically, once more, as she threw another high kick aimed at his temple, this time blocked by his arm.

"You really do hate it when things don't go according to plan, don't you?"

"More than life itself."

"Ain't that a little much?" Edward asked, sweatdropping as he dodged a punch that came straight for his face. A vein popped at her forehead, both at the remark and the fact that he avoided her attack. Again. "If you were in my place, you'd understand!"

Landing on her feet, she retreated to a corner of the room, where bottles and towels were laid at, along with a bag. Grabbing the bottle, she gulped down several mouthfuls of water, before opening the bag and pulling out several familiar green, rubber blades, along with some tape. Seeing this, Edward raised a brow. "Already planning your attack patterns?"

"Never hurts to be pre-prepared. Besides, against a Mach 20 monster, one fighting pattern won't be enough, since it would take a short amount time to see through it. I'll need to come up with more than a few," she muttered in response, while using the tape to attach the knives to the sole of her shoes and on her wrists, and tucking some away in the hem of her shorts and shoes. She threw a glance over her shoulder towards Edward, who tensed up slightly upon noticing her stare.

"I'm going to go as fast as possible, so that I can increase my maximum speed further. Think you can keep up?" she questioned. She was being vague, but Edward could tell: she was concerned about pushing him beyond his physical capabilities. A small smile broke onto his face as he went forward to pat her on the head.

"Glad to know you're concerned, Teresa-chan!" She easily smacked his hand away and walked off in the opposite direction.

"Who's concerned, idiot? And don't add '-chan' to my name!" she scoffed, while Edward took off after her. "Yes, yes, I was just joking. I can do it. Let's start." She sighed in annoyance and turned to face with a glare, but a determined look in her eyes.

"Then let's get started!"

A week later, their first semester examinations ended. Faking mistakes and making them seen realistic enough to be either careless or a misconception was easier than expected. The results she received were low enough for her to be thrown into the E class, hence resulting to her being called to the chairman's office regarding her transfer. As Teresa packed her bag and prepared to go, her eyes met Gakushuu's for a second, the both of them simply stared at each other. No words were needed to know what the opposing party was thinking. The next second, their gazes broke apart so naturally, no one knew what went on between the two of them. As she made her way out of the school, she heard the girls along the hallways 'discreetly' whispering to each other.

"Did you hear? It seems the princess did terribly in the first semester! So much so she's going to fall into the E class!"

"Seriously? That must totally suck!"

"It's a good thing, though. Now she won't cling onto Asano-kun and the rest of the Five Virtusos!"

"Take a hike, miss princess!"

Man...did she want to laugh out loud. It should be obvious to anyone, for someone who scored full marks for everything in their entrance examinations to suddenly drop so low, something had to be going on. And yet, they were so caught up in their personal feelings and obnoxiousness to even realise that. How much more stupid could this school get? Being academically smart is one thing, being logically smart is a different story. It seemed as clear as day which of the two this school lacked.

Moreover, it's not like she wants to cling onto anyone, much less Gakushuu. If anything, she was grateful that she was leaving them and most preferably never have to make any form of contact with them ever again. With the exception of Gakushuu, but that was only because of their deal.

As soon as she reached the chairman's office, she didn't bother waiting for his secretary to address her before knocking on the door and entering. Looking up from his monitor, his originally blank expression morphed into a kind, yet fake, smile. "Ah, Amano-kun, good of you to come on such short notice."

"I'm guessing that means you didn't want me here?" she countered, her usual sweet smile on her face, but with a mocking glint in her eyes. Noticing this sudden change in behaviour, Gakuhou appeared mildly surprised. "No, no, I didn't say that…"

"So, you summoned me here to talk about my transfer to the E class?"

"Yes, but before that, I want you to be honest with me. I don't believe that you, who scored hundred percent for every paper in your entrance examinations, would suddenly drop so low. It seems too suspicious for you to have gotten such scores by accident." Teresa internally groaned. Of course, even if that little fact passed by every other student, it wouldn't pass by him. "...I hadn't been sleeping enough lately."

"Just last week, I questioned you about whether you were catching up with your sleep, and you denied."

"I didn't want to cause any trouble. I also couldn't really keep up with the classes on the new topics that you taught us in the two days before the examinations." At this point, her voice was shaky, while her head was downcast, as if she were really guilty.

"Why didn't you ask to clarify your doubts?"

"I didn't want to trouble the class into waiting for you to explain it to me." Then her tone changed to a slightly accusing one, "and besides, considering the fact that I couldn't answer most of your questions accurately, you should have thought about it, shouldn't you?" His eyes widened slightly at the change in tonality.

"Please be honest with me. Asano-kun put you up to this, didn't he?" Her entire being froze for less than a second, too quick for him to actually be sure whether or not it happened, before she regained her composure and tilted her head to the side with a confused look on her face. "What do you mean?"

Gakuhou simply let out a laugh in response. "He's my son, and I know him better than anyone else in the world. How his eyes look like when he hides something, how his voice sounds like when he lies, how his demeanour changes when he discovers something." Hearing this, Teresa flinched in disgust.

"As admirable as that may seem to many, I find it truly disturbing," she grimaced, distaste written all over her face. Gakuhou simply returned the look with a smile. "So, do you admit it?"

"As long as you don't tell Asano-kun I admitted it. I'll break it to him myself," she replied, putting a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight onto her right foot, an aura of authority surrounding her changed posture. Something Gakuhou marvelled at. "You have my word."

"So, exactly what do you need to tell me about the E class? Other than the very obvious biased treatment that I am bound to receive," she questioned, dissipating the authoritative aura instantly and forming an angelic one, taking Gakuhou slightly by surprise.

"Yes...come in," he said, and the door opened behind her. She turned around, and found herself face to face with Karasuma Tadaomi. As soon as their eyes met, she retained her smile while his eyes widened slightly, instantly recognising her.

"Ah...you're Nagisa-kun's friend, aren't you?" he muttered, a neutral look on his face, while her smile broadened. "Yes. Aren't you a teacher of the E class?"

"That's right. My name is Karasuma Tadaomi, your PE teacher from now on. I am from the Ministry of Defence." Teresa feigned innocence upon hearing those words. "...Come again? The Ministry of Defence? Why on earth would someone from there come here?"

She watched as Karasuma and Gakuhou exchanged looks, before facing her once more. "By transferring into the E class, you have officially become part of an international secret. Your new class has been entrusted with a mission, from the government, to assassinate your homeroom teacher," he finally replied, handing her a sheet of paper, with a picture of a very familiar-looking yellow octopus-like creature on it. She looked at the sheet of paper and quickly scanned the details written onto it and memorising it for extra intel, while the two male adults watched her, awaiting her reaction. After a few moments, she looked back up to face them both with a blank look on her face.

"...Seriously?"

"Yes."

"Not some game?"

"It's not a game." Karasuma replied, sweatdropping slightly at her reaction. She looked down at the paper once more, before meeting his eyes once more.

"So, you're training us then?" His posture straightened, as he replied with a serious look on his face. "Naturally."

"Heh," she began, lifting the sheet of paper to her lips, covering part of the playful smile that appeared on her face, while her eyes practically shone with genuine amusement and excitement. "How interesting. Count me in."

She really wished she had gotten out of the main campus sooner, because it was really starting to bore and annoy her at the same time. At least with her target, the E class would be a much more entertaining place, not to mention she will finally be able to observe her target close-up. As for her arrangement, per say, with Gakushuu… she's going to need to think of a way to get herself out of it to focus on her assassination plan.

"Asking the person himself would work, but that would be too risky...he might even... no, better not think about it…" she muttered to herself, paling slightly at the thought that came to mind, as she walked towards the limo with Edward waiting for her. Noticing the look on her face, he raised a brow and contemplated on asking her, in which he did eventually, when they were in the limo.

"Oh, nothing much. Just thinking about the best course of action to take in order to pull myself out of Gakushuu's clutches without humiliating myself. But at this rate, I might really have to tell _him_ , but he's definitely going to...ugh…" she muttered at the end, slumping further into the leather seat of the limo. Edward was simply dying to know who this 'him' was, but seeing the look on her face, he thought it'd be better not to.

"How's the plan going?"

"Perfectly. Starting tomorrow, I'm officially a student of class 3-E. But Gakuhou found out about that deal between me and Gakushuu."

"Seriously? How?"

"Who knows. I sure as hell don't. Although, I can't say I'm surprised. I didn't expect anything less from Satan's reincarnate." She replied.

"Are you serious?"

"Well yeah. I wasn't sure whether or not he knew, but I can't really say I didn't see it coming."

"No, I meant about Gakuhou being Satan's reincarnate."

"No, I wasn't- actually, I might be." she replied decidedly, after a moment's debate.

"So, are you going to practise your fighting patterns again?" With this, Teresa was immediately brought out of her earlier thoughts and a serious look appeared on her face.

"Yeah. Think you can handle it? Your legs look a little stiff today." She commented, her eyes on what was visible of Edward's legs from where she was sitting.

Edward let out a laugh. "Don't mind me. True, I'm feeling a little sore, but that's because I hadn't had much activities lately, not to mention you're one of the very few people who can push me to my limits. I should be fine." Hearing this, she simply hummed in response, before speaking up once more.

"By the way, what's that moron been doing? I haven't received a single call, text or mail from him." Teresa asked monotonously, an emotionless look on her face. Edward stilled for a moment, before bursting into laughter in realisation. "Are you, by any chance, referring to Gid-sama? He's probably still too scared to speak to you after your 'little' threat the last time."

"That is entirely his fault, but I don't believe that's the only reason why. And to top that of, you too haven't heard anything from him, right?"

Edward blinked, as he took a moment to think about that. "No...I haven't…"

"Did something happen? Well, no point worrying over that useless ass," she deadpanned, causing Edward to sweatdrop. "Ain't that a little harsh?"

"It's the truth, and he himself is well aware of it." She countered, and Edward chuckled to himself. Well, he was used to her thought process involving Gid on a daily basis, but it never failed to crack him up, considering the fact that no one else would dare speak so lowly of Gid.

"So, you finally managed to get into that class. Congrats." She looked up and meet his eyes through the rearview mirror and gave a cold glare. "Of course I did. Who do you think I am?"

He raised both hands in surrender with a smile at the response she gave him. "Just asking."

She rolled her eyes and let out an annoyed 'hmph', before reaching into her bag and pulling out the pistol that Karasuma had handed to her in Gakuhou's office earlier. She checked it for defaults, and immediately found the release button for the magazine, which she pressed, and saw that it was filled purple-coloured anti-Korosensei bb pellets. After further inspection, she noticed it wasn't very much different from a normal bb pistol gun, other than the fact that it had no safety lock. Well, since these pellets are harmless to humans, it would be fine without the safety lock.

She experimentally twirled the pistol around, before eventually holding upside down, with her pinkie at the trigger. She noted that this pistol was a BB-shooting M1911A1 pistol, a little lighter and smaller than her personal favourite, Springfield Armory XDM, and the way she was currently holding it proved most comfortable to her. After all, when it came to shooting, accuracy is greatly increased with a comfortable position and the way the gun is held. She then pulled out the knife case that was also given to her. She pulled out the blade, exactly the same as to one she had, and flipped and twirled it around, and eventually held it with the tip of the blade pointing downwards, her bloodlust slowly seeping out from within her. She simply couldn't wait to finish the job and get out of that school.

When they reached, Edward accompanied her to her quarters, and was rather surprised by the sight that beheld in front of him when he opened the door. A snake playing with two kittens, one black and the other white. He directed his bewildered gaze towards Teresa, who nonchalantly walked pass him and towards the trio, which stopped all activities and turned to face her, as if welcoming her return.

"Might I inquire...what this is?" Edward asked, still in shock. He had absolutely no recollection of seeing any of these...creatures being present in the house for the past week. He remembered seeing the snake, but not the two kittens. Nor a scene whereby two totally different animals got along so well, without being at each other's throats. He watched in silence as she approached the snake first, which, seemingly happily, slithered itself around her shoulders, as she patted and stroked the two kittens.

"As you already know, I found this snake on that mountain behind the main campus. These two kittens were strays I found. The black one was abandoned, the white one was loitering on the streets in the middle of the night," she explained as she continued entertaining them. Edward stared at the scene for a few moments.

"So...their your pets?" She paused her administrations and thought about it. "...I guess? Why?"

"What are their names?"

"Names?"

"Yeah, names. Wait, don't tell me- it didn't cross your mind to name them?"

"...No?" she replied awkwardly, now facing him. His eyes widened. "Then, how have you been calling them to you?"

"I just say 'come here' and they come?"

"Wow...So, what're you going to name them?" he asked, and she turned to face the three animals before her. Her eyes first landed on the black kitten, whose honey golden eyes were immediately directed towards hers, an innocent gaze held in them.

"Pandora." She eventually said after a long pause. The black kitten perked its head up, as if happy about either the name or being named. She then directed her attention to the kitten whose white fur had a blue hue, it's crystal blue eyes meeting hers. "This one will be Snowflake."

She finally faced the snake, which hissed slightly, as if satisfied by the fact it was finally receiving her attention. She observed it for while. She lifted a hand to stroke it head, which it happily accepted, before entwining itself around her arm.

The more she looked at it, the more it reminded her of Gakushuu and Karma. It annoyed the hell out of and deeply intrigued her at the same time. Just like the aforementioned males, it was so enthralling, and dangerous.

Oh so dangerous.

Yet so tame and gentle, despite displays of demand for attention. And protective and caring. Like _her_.

"Tear...Your name will be Tear." She exclaimed, face to face with the snake, despite herself. Edward's eyes widened at the familiar name from her past. He immediately noticed how the ends of her lips drooped downwards, on the verge of remembering what she had forced herself to forget. He knew, the loss of her parents was bad, but the loss of this particular person then was what made her who she was now.

"Interesting choice of names." He quickly exclaimed, stopping her train of thoughts, causing her to face him with a hesitant look. "What do you think?"

He gave a small and polite smile. "I think their names are perfect."

He saw the hesitance in her eyes morph into relief, her facial expression never changing. "Thanks."

After about half an hour of showering her three now official pets with affection, and food, she got up and went into her room, shutting the door behind her. This made Edward slightly wary and worried for the raven-haired girl, but it disappeared when she stepped out, dressed in a black sports bra and black skin-tight leggings, along with black sport shoes, with her hair tied up into a single ponytail, leaving her fringe and bangs hanging out, as per usual.

In one hand she held a black sports bag, no doubt filled with her weapons for killing Korosensei, as she walked pass Edward and towards her training room. Not hearing his footsteps following after hers, she turned around to face him, her usual, cold look resurfaced.

"What are you doing, just standing there. Follow me to help me with warming up and practising my attack patterns."


	7. Her New Class, Her Mission Begins

**Hi all! Sorry for the rather long wait. I had graded assignments and presentations to complete, and now I'm on school break for two months, so I'll probably be able to post the next chapter within the month. For those waiting for 'Falling in love with my rival', I've already begun on the new chapter and am halfway through, so I should be done soon. Anyhow, enjoy the new chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just the plot.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Her New Class, Her Mission Begins

The next morning, as she got ready for school, she remembered that Korosensei had detected her scent before and quickly sprayed herself with sakura-scented cologne. She walked out and found Edward leaning against the couch, already waiting for her. Only after they were on the road did Edward speak up. "Gid-sama asked for you to call him."

Teresa raised a brow but didn't question him as she pulled out her phone and dialled Gid's number. After a couple of rings, she heard the line connect.

"Gid-sama." She greeted, to which he didn't return, much to her annoyance, and went straight to the point.

"You are officially in the E class starting today, am I right?" He immediately asked, to which she hummed in response.

"So, are you really okay with the fact that you are in the E class? I heard from Gakuhou how the school hierarchy works." She sighed, tired of his unnecessary concern.

"If I were concerned about appearances and how people thought of me, I would have stopped being an assassin a long time ago. But what I am concerned about is your relationship with Gakuhou. You say you knew him from a few parties, but you sound much closer to him than that." She countered, hearing a long pause on the other end.

"...It's nothing for you to be concerned about. I trust you're up to it?"

"If I weren't, I wouldn't have accepted this mission you assigned me in the first place."

"True. Well, best of luck. I've heard it has gotten harder. Multiple assassins have tried and failed, and some of them are pro-assassins."

"I see. I will contact you later." With this, she ended the call. Her brows furrowed as a scowl appeared on her lips, while she stared at the screen of her phone. Edward, who noticed her tense expression when he glimpsed at the rearview mirror, spoke up.

"Something on your mind?"

"...He's hiding something from me." She muttered. She knew very well, what his tone sounded like when he lied to hide something.

' _I know him better than anyone else in the world. How his eyes look like when he hides something, how his voice sounds like when he lies, how his demeanour changes when he discovers something.'_ Gakuhou's words from the previous day echoed in her head. She let out a low chuckle.

"I said that it was disgusting, but I'm no better, or different," she muttered to herself, so softly that even Edward didn't catch it. She couldn't deny the fact that she and Gakuhou were quite similar, but the thought of it was, undoubtedly, revolting. She let out a laugh.

"I feel sick." Edward definitely heard that, which caused him to whip his head around in alarm, facing her. "Pardon?!"

"Ah, it's nothing. By the way, don't forget to drop me off at the back of the main campus. It would be more convenient," she replied, brushing it off as she turned to look out of the window.

"Understood."

Upon arriving, she got out of the limo without Edward's assistance and easily hiked up the mountain to the mini campus, immediately taking note of the lack of students. She walked towards it and entered, taking off her shoes and putting on the indoor ones provided. She proceeded to the faculty lounge, and found the two, human, teachers, typing away on their respective devices, one a laptop and the other a tablet.

Both stopped their current activities and directed their attention towards her upon hearing the door open, clearing expecting Korosensei instead of her, judging from the surprised look on their faces. Karasuma slowly rose to his feet and approached her.

"You're a lot earlier than expected." He mused.

"I always come at this time though," she replied, smiling politely. Irina then stood up and approached her. "Who's this?"

"The new student. The one from the main campus." Karasuma answered, as Irina's face scrunched up slightly, before lighting up in realisation. "Ah."

Karasuma then faced Teresa once more, before gesturing towards Irina. "This is Irina Jelavich, a pro assassin. She is the E class' English teacher."

Teresa then turned to face Irina, and, with both hands, held her bag in front of her as she politely bowed towards Irina, who widened her eyes in surprise at the display of respect.

"Pleasure to meet you. My name is Amano Teresa. Please take care of me." She said, before straightening back up and smiling sweetly at the blonde woman, who smiled satisfactorily back at her.

"What a polite brat!" Teresa resisted the twitch her eye threatened to make at the term Irina used to address her. 'Brat'? She maintained her smile before asking, "How should I address you?"

"...Could you call me 'Jelavich-sensei'?"

"Jelavich-sensei." Teresa parroted, and Irina's smile visibly brightened. She then seemingly began to stare at Teresa, from head to toe.

"You don't seem like much for this," she stated, before her eyes fell on Teresa's chest and her eyes widened, before blinking. Irina then pointed her index finger to Teresa's chest.

"What's your cup size?" This time, Teresa raised a brow. What the heck? She noted how Karasuma shut his eyes and let out a frustrated sigh upon hearing Irina's question. "F...why do you ask?"

"...No way…that's bigger than my double D…" she muttered darkly to herself, as she slowly strutted back to her seat, looking slightly dejected.

"Anyways," Karasuma finally spoke up, allowing Teresa to redirect her attention to him, "how far does your physical capabilities go?"

Teresa tilted her head to the side and placed a finger on her cheek, making a thinking face. "Because of my family, I had to take self-defense lessons, so I have a fairly good grasp of martial arts. I do a bit of archery too. Oh, and I guess I'm good at shooting, since I visit arcades to play shooting games time to time."

Karasuma thought about it for a moment, before nodding in approval. "I guess that works. How well can you handle a knife?"

"...As well as cooking would allow, I guess?" she replied with a nervous laugh, causing Irina to slap a hand over her mouth to stop a laugh from erupting while Karasuma seemingly facepalmed.

"Fair enough. Well, you will be undergoing practices for knife work and shooting during physical education with the rest of your class, so you should be fine," he stated, and Teresa stifled a scoff. 'Not that I need it.'

"You will be introduced to the class later when school begins. Till then, you're free to do as you please." He added.

"By the way, where's the target?" She questioned. She had not seen him upon coming here. Karasuma angrily replied, "He's currently in Spain for breakfast. He should be reaching soon." Hearing his response, Teresa sweatdropped slightly. Korosensei was really free-spirited for an assassination target, it would be a wonder how he was still alive if it weren't for his renowned speed.

"Well then, if you'd excuse me, I need to use the washroom," she said, leaving her bag in the faculty lounge before heading for the toilet. Karasuma then turned around to return to his seat, and noticed Irina's serious, thinking face.

"Something wrong?"

"Her name. I believe I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't seem to place it...argh, I hate it when I can't remember things!" she whined, combing her fingers through her hair and into her scalp in annoyance.

"She's also quite the mysterious entity." Irina stopped her administrations and stared at Karasuma. "How so?"

"When I was informed that she was transferring into the class, I tried to do some research on her background."

"But?"

"Nothing. There wasn't any information that could be found other than her name, age, birthdate, gender, height and weight. There is absolutely no record of her history: what schools she was in, where she was born, what she had been doing in the past few years of her life."

"A fake identity, perhaps?" Irina suggested.

"That's what I thought, but it wasn't the case. It is indeed her real identity, and there were papers on her adoption. I even asked the chairman of the school, and he says he is not familiar with her personal life." Irina raised both brows at this unfamiliar information.

"Well, that's a first. Do you think she's a threat?"

"Maybe not yet. Best we kept our guard up."

"Noted." The two then went back to work, unaware of the fact that the very subject of their conversation had been right outside, concealing her presence as she listened to every single word. As soon as the conversation ended, she quickly rushed off to the ladies washroom and locked herself in a cubicle.

She took out the pocket-sized spray she had kept in her pocket and sprayed the liquid it contained inside onto her shoes, before keeping it once more. She quickly double-checked the black garter belts around her thighs and the black wristbands she wore underneath her sleeves, and hid them underneath her clothes once more. "Alright, everything is ready."

She quickly exited the toilet and approached the faculty lounge once more, knocking on the door post to catch the two teachers' attention. "If it's alright, may I take a quick walk around the mountain? To get a feel of the area around?"

"Sure. Make sure to return before class starts," Karasuma replied, his eyes never leaving the screen of the laptop in front of him as he typed away. Teresa politely bowed and muttered a 'thanks' and went off. She began exploring the forests surrounding the mountain, memorising every single detail while keeping her presence concealed, and before she knew it, there was five minutes left before lessons began.

She quickly made her way back, and as she approached the teachers' staffroom, she noticed how every student was already here, along with their teacher, none of which had yet noticed her. As soon as she entered the staffroom, Karasuma stood up upon seeing her, and silently waited as she picked up her bag. "Shall we go introduce yourself to the class, then?"

"Yes, sir." She followed him to the classroom and patiently waited till she was summoned. When she was, she slowly entered the class, ignoring the several, not so discreet, gasps that echoed throughout the classroom. As she finally turned to face the class, her eyes swept across the students, meeting each of their eyes. All of them were surprised, excluding Karma, who simply smirked upon her appearance.

"My name is Amano Teresa. Please take care of me." She said as she politely bowed towards the class. Nagisa was the first to react, jumping out of his seat. "Teresa-san!"

"It's nice to see you too, Nagisa-"

"How come you're in the E class?! Weren't you in the A class?" Terasaka barked, cutting Teresa off. Her eye twitched slightly at that, but quickly brushed it aside.

"It seems that she didn't do too well for the recent examinations, which resulted in her transfer. Isn't that right, Amano-san?" Korosensei replied in her stead. Teresa smiled at Korosensei's response. "That's right."

"Bullshit! Didn't she get perfect scores for her entrance exams? How could it be that she suddenly does so badly in the recent exams?" Yoshida countered, siding Terasaka on this matter.

"The chairman's lesson on the new topics on the last two days before the examinations were rather spartan, and a little too hard to follow, hence I didn't do too well." Teresa patiently replied, not wanting to snap on her first day. While she understood that they were in disbelief, they were being a little too rude about it.

"Even if that's the truth, it is too suspicious! A top-rate student in the E class? What a joke." Muramatsu questioned, scowling. Teresa frowned slightly, not exactly pleased with their reactions. She had expected Terasaka and his goons to retaliate, but not like this. They weren't exactly being respectful in the slightest, something she didn't quite like.

"That's quite true. You did so well, it doesn't really make sense that you'd be here," Isogai politely stated, to which Teresa didn't take any offense from.

"Yeah, Teresa-san is really smart, I thought the test would have been a breeze for you," Nagisa added, a concerned look on his face. Hearing a laugh, she turned her head to face Karma, who had his usual devilish smirk.

"Well, what can you expect? Like she said, the chairman's lessons are spartan, and a princess like herself probably wasn't able to withstand and keep up with it!" He teased, and a light blush appeared on her cheeks as she scowled at Karma.

"What did I say about calling me a princess, Karma-san?" she complained, while Karma simply laughed at her misery. Terasaka let out a scoff at the nickname.

"'Princess', huh? Let's see how long she lasts before she goes crawling back to the main campus, begging at the feet of the chairman to let her back in," Terasaka taunted, and Teresa immediately directed a cold glare at him, any concern for discretion thrown to the wind. The intensity of her glare caused him to flinch and shrink away. "I don't beg anyone, much less at their feet. Nor do I grovel. Could you please not mock me?"

She couldn't care less about whether or not she was giving away her identity as an assassin, she wouldn't stand for Terasaka's comment. Karma openly snickered at Terasaka's frightened expression while Karasuma sighed. "That's some nice bloodlust you have, but please direct it towards the target."

A high-pitched squeal suddenly erupted from behind her, causing her, along with everyone else, to jump. She whipped around to face Korosensei, who looked rather...fangirl-ish.

"A princess?! Sensei is so honoured to be in your presence!" He gushed, and her eye twitched in annoyance. This is all so infuriating. Nonetheless, she kept her anger from surging out and smiled sweetly at the teacher.

"I'm not a princess, but it is an honour to finally meet you, Korosensei," she replied, raising her hand to shake his, as her gaze met his. He then raised his tentacle-like hand and firmly grasped hers. She gripped his hand as tightly as she could. "Likewise, Amano-sa-NYUYA!"

The class was once again taken by surprise as they watched Korosensei's arm, which was completely sliced off, fall to the ground into a wriggling heap of slime. Korosensei paled as he watched the girl before him. She had drawn out a knife from inside her sleeve and swung it across, but he didn't notice as his attention was fixed onto her eyes rather than the rest of her body. A shadow loomed over her right eye, which gleamed slightly with bloodlust, as she leapt forward to continue her attack.

He rapidly slithered backwards as Teresa advanced, swinging her blade in an inconsistently random pattern, which appeared amateurish to Karasuma, as she had hoped it would.

When she had him backed up against the windows that were opposite the door of the classroom, she swung her right foot up into a high kick. Seeing this, Korosensei got full of himself, as he raised a tentacle, at Mach 20, in advance to stop her kick. "Sorry to say, but physical attacks don't have much effect on m-"

He was cut off a second time as he watched the cells of his tentacles get disintegrated upon contact with her shoe, resulting in another tentacle getting lopped off. Satisfied with his silence and the results of her attacks, she set her foot back down onto the ground, before smiling sweetly towards her target. The rest of the class was just as taken aback, as they had watched the scene unravel. Both the guys and girls were in awe, with the exception of a certain trio.

"That was my way of a greeting. Hope you liked it!" she exclaimed cheerily. Korosensei, seemingly having regained himself, chuckled in response as he regenerated both tentacles. "That was a wonderful surprise assassination. It's a shame it wasn't successful."

"That's because it wasn't supposed to be."

"Pardon?"

"Judging from your speed, I predicted that it would have been a failed attempt on your life." Teresa replied as she bent down to pick up her schoolbag before straightening back up. She noticed how Korosensei remained silent as he seemingly processed her words. "So, where am I sitting?"

"The desk on Karma-kun's left." Korosensei replied, and she nodded in understanding before making her way towards the said desk.

"What, that's it? That's all you got?" Terasaka mocked, and both Kataoka and Isogai sent him warning glares. Teresa simply smirked in response.

"It would be pointless to claim continue attacking now because I've already lost the element of surprise, so he would predict and be prepared for whatever I would do. There would be absolutely no point in increasing his ego any further at this point. And besides, I'm pretty sure I did far better than you. At least I could remove a couple of tentacles, but not only could you not inflict the slightest damage on him, you almost got your classmate killed," she countered, her tone turning icy at the end as her smile, despite looking sweet, now seemed deadly.

Truth be told, she had called Karma the night before and told him about her transfer without telling him the reason, and asked him about any assassination attempts. She was eventually made known of Nagisa's suicide bomb attack, Sugino's lethal baseball attack, Karma's prank-filled attacks, Irina's seduction-based attack, and Manami's poisoning attempt.

She watched as fear flitted past Terasaka's eyes, while he did a slack job at hiding it. This time, Okajima joined Karma to snigger at Terasaka.

"Wow, you are one savage queen!" Maehara laughed, lightly patting Teresa's back. At his words, Okajima lit up.

"That's it! We'll call you 'Queen'!"

"...What?" Teresa questioned, getting a strong sense of déjà vu.

"True. The name 'princess' doesn't really suit you, after such a magnificent display. You should be called 'Queen'!" Maehara exclaimed in agreement, high-fiving Okajima. Teresa watched them with a bewildered look on her face. "Eh…"

"Indeed. Teresa-san is really strong, and makes a really powerful impression after all," Nagisa commented in agreement, causing to whip her head around and stare at him in disbelief.

"You too, Nagisa-san? Please, enough with the nicknames already…" she groaned in exasperation. She's had enough of name-calling in the main campus after all.

"Eh~ Don't you like it, Joou-sama (Queen)?" Karma teased, and Teresa flushed pink once more as she glared at him. "Shut it, why don't you!"

"Hey, that's enough from you boys. Can't you see you're making our new classmate uncomfortable?" Kataoka lectured, hands on her hips as she frowned at the growing group of boys teasing Teresa.

"Yeah! Just 'cause she's got big boobs doesn't mean she deserves to be teased like that!" Kayano exclaimed, while Teresa sweatdropped at her words. 'That's her concern?!'

"Yep, yep! That's sexual harassment, guys!" Nakamura added, both hands cupping her mouth, while wearing a teasing smirk on her lips. Teresa turned her head, her eyes meeting Nakamura's, as she wore a blank expression on her face. "It is?"

"...Isn't it?" Nakamura replied, her face now mirroring Teresa's.

"I don't...think so."

"...Oops?"

"Then it's fine, isn't it? It's not like we're harassing her in any way." Mimura said. Kataoka frowned and stepped in front of Teresa. "It doesn't change the fact that you guys are making her uncomfortable!"

Teresa placed a hand on Kataoka's shoulder, causing her to turn around, allowing Teresa to give her a gentle smile.

"It's fine, Kataoka-san. They aren't making me feel uncomfortable. I just really can't stand nicknames," she then turned to face the group of boys, "but if you guys want to call me 'Queen', then it's fine with me."

"Are you sure it's fine? If you don't like it, you should just say so." Yada spoke up, concern evident in her face. Teresa gave her a reassuring smile.

"Well, I can't really say I like it, but it makes me happy since it shows me that they are accepting me as one of them." She replied. The class stared at her, wide-eyed, causing her to raise a brow in confusion. "What?"

"Oh god, you are so kind, it's impossible! Are you real?!" Nakamura exclaimed, hugging Teresa tightly from the side, eliciting a chuckle from Teresa. "I assure you, I'm very real. But I wouldn't say I'm very kind. I mean, you saw how I was with Terasaka-san."

"That big oaf had it coming."

"Nakamura! You-" Terasaka howled, only to get cut of by Fuwa.

"She's exactly right. He had it coming, but I've got to admit, you are like one of those anime characters that are sweet all the time, but turns are cold and dangerous when you're angry, like Mirajane of Fairy Tail. It's kinda cool!" Teresa shot her a confused smile. "Thanks?"

"Alright, that's enough. Please return to your seats and let us start homeroom." Korosensei said, finality in his tone, resulting in the students walking back to their seats. As Teresa settled down, Korosensei spoke up once more, "Anyhow, I look forward to the rest of the year with you, Amano-san."

"Likewise. And please, just call me 'Teresa'." She replied, smiling brightly. Korosensei nodded in understanding and smiled widely. "Sure, Teresa-san."

When break came about, Korosensei had blasted off to Italy, to eat some authentic pappardelle, and immediately soon after she found herself being dragged into the forest by Karma and Nagisa. When they were quite a distance away, Karma finally let go of her wrist, and turned around to face her, a serious look on his face.

"I know you told me about your transfer the night before, and that I trust you enough to know that I have no reason to doubt you, but, as much as I hate to admit, I have to agree with Terasaka. You suddenly dropping into the E class is far too suspicious. Why are you here?" He questioned, humourless and unsmiling. Teresa remained silent, her eyes downcast as she weighed her options. To lie and lose their trust, or to tell the truth and make Gakushuu a bigger enemy than he already is.

If she lied now, both boys would definitely know, and she would ultimately lose the class' trust in her. If she told the truth, the class may forgive her, and assist her in handling Gakushuu, someone who must be dealt with very delicately. She definitely preferred to handle this problem alone, after it is a personal issue, but her current situation didn't allow it. And she needed to think about what course of action she should take.

"Teresa-san," Nagisa spoke up, snapping her out of her thoughts and causing her to look up to see Nagisa's face in front of hers. Insecurity and sadness were evident in his sky-blue orbs. "Do you not trust us?"

Teresa widened her eyes. She knew, they trusted her when they first met her, because she had treated them differently as compared to any other student from the main campus, and she was always honest with them.

Well, except for the fact that she was an assassin.

But that didn't necessarily show that she trusted them. And it didn't help she's never really trusted anybody. After all, she only allowed a select few to be made known her identity, and she didn't necessarily trust them either. Ren was one of the few because he was tight-lipped about people's confidential information.

There was no way she could actually trust anyone ever again, not after what happened twelve years ago. She gave Nagisa and Karma a weak smile.

"It's not that I don't trust you. But, I don't want my decisions to harm any of you," she replied honestly, causing both boys to widen their eyes upon hearing her earnest reply. Karma stepped forward and stood in front of her.

"Who's involved?" he asked, ill-intent laced in his tone. She could already see the gears turning in his head, plotting the most devious scheme to make his victim regret for the rest of his life.

"It's...Asano-kun." She finally said, and Nagisa's expression turned alarmed, while Karma simply widened his eyes.

"But...why? What does he have against you?" Nagisa questioned, clearly concerned about her.

"Almost nothing. It's his father he has something against. He suspects that the chairman is hiding something about the E class from the rest of the school," she stated, and she saw realisation visibly appear on their faces, aware she was talking about Korosensei. "And he wanted me to find out what."

"And you agreed because?" Karma asked, his question hanging in the air. Teresa bit her lip nervously, still unsure about whether she should tell him, of all people. But it didn't seem that she had a choice, having said this much.

"He got some blackmail on me...it's embarrassing," Teresa answered, cheeks flushing pink as she buried her face in her hands. No matter how many times she thought about it, it was still as humiliating.

Noticing the flushed expression, Karma visibly perked up and closed the distance between them, a little too close for comfort. With none the wiser, he ended up backing her up against a tree, as he leaned forward.

"Heh~ What kind of blackmail?" he asked, rather excitedly, if that cheeky, toothy smirk and mischievous glint in his eyes were anything to go by…

Nagisa, who obviously noticed the sudden interest, sighed in resignation. This was Karma's nature after all, it couldn't be helped. He placed a hand on Karma's shoulder, and said warningly, "Karma-kun...not now."

"No, it's fine. You should-no, you deserve to know. Could you...meet me after school? I'll send you the venue and time later."

"Why not tell us now?" Karma asked, his breath fanning her face, considering the fact that he was practically pressed against her in his excitement to know what the blackmail was.

"...Because we're being watched." She replied, pointing her index finger in front of her. Following the direction she was pointing, their eyes widened at the sight of the mini audience they had behind some of the trees surrounding them.

An audience that included Kayano, Kanzaki, Kataoka, Nakamura, Okuda, Sugino, Isogai, Maehara, and Okajima, amongst which the girls were watching with keen interest, while the boys were seemingly bewildered.

Karma, finally realising the position he had put Teresa and himself in, smirked and moved forward, pushing himself against Teresa more than before, causing her to blush and shift uncomfortably at the further increased contact.

It didn't help that she was more and more conscious of the fact that his rock-hard chest being pressed against her own, and that she didn't hate it.

Upon seeing this, the girls' eyes began sparkling with pink hues on their cheeks, while Isogai, Sugino and Kataoka watched nervously, and Okajima and Maehara were boiling with jealousy.

"In case you couldn't tell already, we're a little busy. Mind giving us some privacy?" He inquired, while Nagisa sighed in exasperation, knowing that Karma was just messing around, despite how suggestive he sounded.

"Shut up, Karma! You don't get to tell us what to do, you lucky bastard!" Maehara howled, while Okajima, who was seething in jealousy, nodded in agreement. "Yeah! You're getting push against some fine mounds right now, I'm so envious!"

"That's not important!" Kataoka yelled in response, smacking the two silly, causing Sugino to laugh nervously and inch away from Kataoka, not wanting to risk getting hurt as well.

"Karma, you should probably back off a bit, she looks really uncomfortable with you so close to her," Isogai suggested, eyeing at Teresa's discomfort, which was evident on her face.

"Heh~? You say that, but aren't you just jealous, Isogai?" Karma teased, which only got him a sigh. "Of course not. I'm only saying this because I am concerned about our new classmate, who looks like she could really use some space."

Hearing this, Karma redirected his attention onto the raven-haired girl, who bit her lower lip in an abashed fashion while she lowered her head. Her gaze was averted towards the ground, not daring to make eye contact with anyone while in her current position.

In complete honesty, while she didn't hate the contact, she despised the fact that she was being forced in such a position, but she kept that within for the sake of the mission.

"Um, Karma-san, could you please back off now?" She pleaded, and Karma stilled for a moment, before, rather reluctantly, pulling himself away from her. He then put his hands behind his head and smirked towards Maehara's and Okajima's direction, once more receiving angry scowls, much to his satisfaction.

"I'm going to get myself a drink from the main campus, so if you would excuse me," she quickly added, making her way away from the group, before getting stopped by Isogai. "Are you sure you would be okay by yourself?"

She flashed a sweet smile. "Don't worry about me, Isogai-kun, I'll be fine. Besides, despite how I may appear, I'm not so weak as to succumb to anyone's words, emotionally or mentally." With that, she made her way past the group and down the mountain.

Upon reaching the bottom, she quickly walked to the vending machine and bought her drink. As soon as she did, she opened it and took a sip as she turned around, only to find herself face to face with the Five Virtuosos. With the exception of their leader.

"My, my, what is a student from the E class doing down here?" Araki questioned. He sounded polite, but Teresa knew better, he was taunting her. And to think he was one of the many to have confessed to her when she was in the main campus.

"Buying a drink, as you can see." She simply replied, taking another sip as she discreetly eyed Ren, who seemed nervous and uncertain about approaching her with the rest of his 'friends', clearly because he knew they were only talking to her to provoke her.

"And why would you need to buy a drink?"

"Because human bodily functions deplete water and salt from within the body, hence humans get thirsty and require intake of water. Don't you know that much, or should I have to spell it out further?" Teresa replied sarcastically, her tone all merry, but she displayed no emotions on her face. Which served to surprise them all, except for Ren. Taking a moment to regain himself, Koyama retorted in an irritated fashion.

"D-don't get so cocky with us! You're in the E class now, so you don't get to talk back to us!" He definitely intended to scare her, but after hearing him stutter, she could easily confirm that he was the one afraid. Moreover…

q"Talking back, you say? You're the ones who confronted me with a question, and I was simply answering you. Would you have preferred if I ignored you and walked away?" She questioned sweetly, this time while smiling, but they could see that she was mocking them with her eyes. At this, Seo snapped. "You little-!"

"What's going on?" The four of them froze and turned around to face the source, Asano Gakushuu. Teresa smile dimmed slightly upon seeing him, remembering the conversation she had with Karma and Nagisa mere moments ago, before quickly keeping her emotions in check once more. Scanning the group gathered in front of him, Gakushuu finally noticed Teresa's presence, and smirked slightly before covering it up with his usual charismatic smile.

"Amano-san, it's nice to see you again." She narrowed her eyes while her smile remained as she looked straight into Gakushuu's eyes, creating a rather thick tension, which Ren immediately noticed and stiffened slightly in response.

"The pleasure is all mine, Asano-kun. But it seems I'm not welcome here." She answered, gesturing towards the rather hostile group of boys before them. Gakushuu ignored the side comment and watched as Teresa continued to drink from the can of drink she bought.

"How are you doing in your new class? I hope you aren't too brought down by the transfer," Gakushuu asked, and Teresa let out a low, inaudible scoff. For some reason, she's been losing her cool a little too easily recently, and is struggling to keep up her farce. She then directed her gaze at Gakushuu once more.

"Why the fuck do you care, asshole? You're the one who forced me there in the first place!"

...Was what she wanted to say, but she couldn't afford to, not here and not now. She resorted to flashing him an innocently sweet smile, which seemingly caught him off guard for a moment, before she gave him her reply.

"Not at all! I quite enjoy being up there as compared to down here. It's much more enjoyable, and calming too. In fact, I might wanna stay in the E class for a while!" Hearing this, Gakushuu raised a brow before the side of his lips twitched upwards, thinking she was talking about the E class' secret, when in reality, she was simply being honest with no underlying meaning. Naturally, the rest of the Five Virtuosos thought differently.

"Huh? Who would want to stay up there with those losers?"

"Well, apparently, I do, and they aren't losers. They are a much more welcoming bunch as compared to the students down here," she countered, frowning as she puffed up her cheek in annoyance. Unknowingly, she made herself appear cute in front of them, causing them to blush slightly at the sight. Suddenly, an arm was slung over her shoulders and she felt someone rest their chin on her left shoulder, before hearing them let out a chuckle.

"To think you thought of us that way and would even go so far as to defend us from the Five Virtuosos, I am sincerely touched, Teresa-chan~! You have my thanks!" Karma exclaimed, as she turned her head to the side slightly and looked at Karma in surprise. She had heard his footsteps approaching their direction, but she didn't know it was him. Turning her head further to look behind, and she saw, as she had expected, Nagisa standing behind them and laughing nervously.

"Your welcome, Karma-san… but for how long do you intend to keep your arm on me? And haven't I told you not to add '-chan' to my name?" She inquired politely with a small smile, not a hint of the earlier spite in her tone. Karma returned the gesture and raised his head from her shoulder and directed his attention on Gakushuu, who seemed a little unnerved by Karma's presence, and narrowed his eyes. Gakushuu returned the gesture, clearly not pleased by his appearance. Silence hung in the air as the two stared at each other for a few moments, which felt like hours to everyone else. Finally, Karma flashed his usual laid-back smirk and spoke up.

"Might I ask what business you all have with my classmate here?" He asked, now looking at all of the students in the Five Virtuosos. Gakushuu remained neutral while the others were visibly terrified by the red-haired devil's presence.

"Nothing much. Just concerned for her as an ex-classmate and student council president. Why does it matter?" Gakushuu smoothly replied, to which Karma naturally found the perfect counter for. "Heh...why now? Tons of students have fallen from the main campus to the E class, but you've never even bat an eye about it till now. Why the sudden change, Asano-kun?"

Gakushuu's serious face morphed into a slightly shocked one, before directing his gaze to Teresa, who was currently facing away from him and towards Nagisa, who was explaining that Karma was concerned about her and decided to stalk her on the way down. 'Did she tell them already?'

"S-Stalk?"

"Yeah, not follow. Stalk. That's exactly what he had said earlier." Nagisa replied with a straight face, in all seriousness. Teresa sweatdropped slightly before turning to face Karma, who sensed her gaze on him and pulled his attention away from Gakushuu and onto her, in disbelief. "Seriously? You stalked me all the way here?"

Karma stared at her for a few moments with a blank look on his face, before smirking and replying, "Yep!" Teresa gaped at him openly before making her comeback.

"That is not something you should be proud of!"

"Eh, are you mad-"

"What if you were spotted by someone else and reported to the police? Please don't do something so risky! You make me worry about you more than I should..." All the boys stared at her in surprise of her outburst, before Karma grinned.

"Heh~ You were worried about me? Thank you, Teresa-chan, and sorry for making you worry."

"Don't add '-chan'...nevermind. Anyways, if you're so sorry," she said, before plucking Karma's hand off her right shoulder, "could you remove your arm already? You're causing me to strain my shoulders, and it kinda hurts."

"Ah, sorry, sorry," Karma replied, finally removing his arm from her. Aside from Gakushuu, the rest of the Five Virtuosos eyed the duo wearily. They couldn't comprehend how she was able to so calmly, even jokingly, communicate with him, despite knowing the kind of personality he has. Gakushuu watched the exchange between the two in silence, observing them. 'Had she already told them? No, it can't be...she wouldn't risk embarrassing herself.'

Feeling his gaze on her, Teresa discreetly glanced his way and smirked to herself, knowing exactly what he was thinking. If he thought she wouldn't risk that much for their trust and ensure she doesn't blow her cover, he had another thing coming.

"My, my, I was wondering what this ruckus about." Hearing a new voice, everyone turned to face the chairman. The Five Virtuosos seemed to calm down upon noticing his presence, while Nagisa seemingly wilted in fear and inferiority, Karma completely lost his laid-backness and had a blank expression on his face, and Teresa had a dull look on her face before facing away to finish her drink. Gakuhou's eyes swept across the group, before landing on Teresa, who was still drinking. He then smiled and greeted her, "It's nice to see you again, Amano-san."

Only after she was finished with her drink did she return the greeting with a bright smile and even brighter eyes. "Likewise. I hope you didn't show up just to give another display of your biasness against us students of the E class." Her tone was so sweet and innocent, it literally took everyone a few seconds to process her words, and when they did, they all turned to stare at her in shock and bewilderment. Despite their obvious display of shock, she continued staring straight at Gakuhou, who had a mildly surprised look on his face.

"Amano-san, you are a student of this school, no different from anyone else. I won't tolerate this kind of behaviour, I may end up having to discipline you."

"What kind? I'm simply asking based on what I've witnessed so far. And it's not like I'm breaking any school rules, so you can't really 'discipline' me, even if you wanted to." She replied, still smiling sweetly. The rest simply watched in the exchange in slight awe and horror. Gakuhou narrowed his eyes slightly.

"If you continue to keep us with this, I am going to report it to your father." Hearing him threaten her, a shadow loomed over her closed eye and a vein at her temple popped, while she maintained her smile. Did he really think bringing Gid into the conversation would change anything or have the situation in his favour, because his underestimating her was seriously starting to get on her nerves.

"Go ahead and tell him, then. He's not going to do anything about it. Moreover, did you really think using the 'I'm going to tell your parents' tactic is going to work on me, because if you did, I'd appreciate it if you stopped looking down on me. You're going to make me angry." She spoke, keeping her tone in check, while the boys surrounding her stared at her warily, especially Karma, Gakushuu and Nagisa. Gakuhou simply raised a brow before staring down at her, an eerie gleam in his eyes.

"Are you suggesting that I would fear you? A mere student?" He asked, his tone dangerous as he stared at her. Her smile dipped into a frown as she instantaneously crushed the now empty can in her hand, opening her eyes to reveal a cold stare as she looked up into Gakuhou's eyes, causing his confidence to waver. Although it was barely visible, Gakushuu immediately noticed it, and widened his eyes slightly at the sight at the slightly unnerved gaze in his father's eyes. "I'm saying that incurring my wrath is something even you should be wary of, riji-chō sensei (Mr. Chairman)."

She was about that close to turning into full assassin mode, thanks to this jerk, and also partly due to her being on her period. Curse the existence of women's problems messing with her hormones at a time like this. Not that she could actually help herself right now. She really wanted Gakuhou to stay out of the picture for awhile, at least till she had taken care of her deal with Gakushuu. The rest of the Five Virtuosos, who were silently watching, and unsure of how to react, seemed to snap out of whatever trance they were in and Seo finally spoke up.

"D-Don't be so full of yourself! How dare you speak to the chairman that wa-!" The rest of his protest died in his throat when he saw her icy glare directed towards him. In that instant, he lost his resolve to fight back and the strength to even speak up. And for a moment, he felt a chill went down his spine, as if...he was going to be killed. She then smiled sweetly at him, which served to cause him to tense up further. "I don't care much for the school system or how it works, so could the outsiders please be quiet and stay out of it?"

Seo wilted in response and turned away, unable to meet her eyes any longer. The other three stared at her warily, including Ren, who was more concerned about her than Seo in all honesty. Gakushuu was, admittedly unnerved by her current behaviour, but at the same time, deeply intrigued. Karma, too, seemed deeply amused by her display, while Nagisa was taken aback. He wasn't afraid, but still, he couldn't help but be surprised. As for Gakuhou, his facial expression remained neutral, but his eyes appeared...deeply entertained.

"Anyways," Teresa began once more, finally turning away from Seo and closing her eyes in a nonchalant fashion, "all I came down here for was a drink, it was you guys who bothered speaking to me. Now that we're done, may we be excused? Seeing as we have no reason to stay any longer."

"Very well. This time I'll let you go, but next time I won't let you off the hook so easily," said Gakuhou, putting on his usual smile on. Teresa returned his smile with her own and replied, "If there's a next time. Now if you would excuse us. Shall we go, Karma-san? Nagisa-san?"

She turned away from the group, and as she walked past Gakushuu, their shoulders brushing against each other, she felt him slip a piece of paper into her hand. She briefly glanced his way, before clenching that hand into a fist, keeping the slip of paper out of Gakuhou's sight. She then walked towards the mountain, with Karma and Nagisa leisurely trailing behind her, before she tossed the crushed can over her shoulder without looking back.

Koyama opened his mouth, about to lecture her about littering, but eventually shut it as he watched it fall into the trash can that was a few meters behind her. Ren's eyes followed Teresa's disappearing form as he silently stood behind the rest, something Gakushuu noticed. And it wasn't a gaze of interest, but of concern.

* * *

On the way up, Nagisa finally spoke up after a long, awkward silence. "Teresa-san? Are you alright?" Teresa stilled, causing the two to halt behind her. She then finally turned around, giving them a sad, closed-eye smile. "Sorry that you had to see that. I was a little upset with this school for quite some time already, and I really didn't like how the E class was being treated just because of your results or whatever reasons you are here."

"I see, but it seemed to me that you were rather riled up over a small comment, and you even went against the chairman." Nagisa replied, and Teresa tensed up before averting her gaze, a pink hue on her cheeks as she laughed nervously. "Ah, well, t-the thing is...I...well, I-"

"Could it be that...it is your that time of the month?" Karma asked teasingly. It was meant to be a joke, but when he saw her whip her head towards him to stare at him, bewildered, with her cheeks flushed scarlet, he realised he hit a bullseye. "Wait, seriously?"

'H-How did you know?!"

"Wild guess, but I didn't think it would actually be the case. So...really?" Karma asked, and Teresa scowled openly before turning away and marching off towards the mini campus on the top of the mountain. "Don't know!"

"C'mon! Tell me!"

"Hell no!" Nagisa sighed and laughed dryly as he watched the two go back and forth at each other while Karma chased Teresa up the mountain. While he was glad nothing happened earlier below, he really hoped Karma would stop teasing Teresa like that. If Karma were to go on, he was afraid that the terrifying display Teresa had showed the chairman and the class A students would be directed at Karma.

* * *

Later during classes, Teresa discreetly opened up the piece of paper, that was now crumpled, and briefly made out the destination, which happened to be the same cafe he brought her to the last time, and time that had been indicated on it. She raised a brow at this. 'My first day in the E class, and he already wants to meet? Talk about desperate…'

As soon as school ended, she left ahead of Karma and Nagisa, quickly sending them texts on the place and a time a little later than the time Gakushuu had given her. She quickly sent another text to Edward that she would be returning home by herself. She then made her way to that cafe.

Upon reaching the cafe, she noticed there was no one there. Translation: Gakushuu had yet to arrive. She directed her gaze on a female staff, the same one from last time, who instantly recognised her and went up to her.

"Are you Asano-sama's guest for his current reservation?"

"...I guess that's one way to put it." She hesitantly replied, since she considered herself more of his captive than his guest. Considering the way he treated her, that is. The waitress then smiled sweetly and showed her to a booth, which had a table for two.

"Is there anything you would like? A drink, perhaps?"

"I guess I could use a mocha frappe. And some company," Teresa replied, and the waitress widened her eyes in surprise for a brief moment, before regaining her composure and putting on a professional front. "Of course. I'll be back in a moment."

Soon, the waitress returned with her drink. Settling the glass cup onto the table, she then directed her gaze on Teresa, who gladly sipped the frappe through a straw, and watched anxiously. After this teenage girl's last visit, in all honesty, she was a little afraid to even approach her. Noticing the waitress cowering in fear, she smiled politely towards her direction.

"Sorry about what happened the last time I was here. I was a little upset about several things and I lost my control. Please don't worry, I won't do anything to hurt you." She reassured the waitress, who visibly relaxed and returned her smile.

"Alright."

"So, let's introduce ourselves, starting with our names. I'm Amano Teresa, what's yours?"

* * *

After about half an hour's worth of idle chatter, Gakushuu finally showed up, all serious with a dignified air around him. The waitress who had been talking to Teresa, who happened to be called Minami, blushed slightly upon the sight of Gakushuu. Seeing her slightly flushed expression, Teresa discreetly gagged. Great, another fangirl of this control-obsessed demon. Other than his looks, academic brilliance and abundance of knowledge on society, she saw absolutely nothing good about him, especially his personality.

"Welcome, Asano-sama! May I get you anything?" Minami in a sickly sweet tone, asked Gakushuu, who settled in the seat opposite Teresa, and returned the gesture with his usual, charismatic smile. "I would like to have my usual espresso."

Minami bowed politely and quickly rushed off to get his coffee. As soon as she disappeared around the corner, he turned to face Teresa, who was staring at him with a dull, bored look while sipping on her drink, but her eyes glistened with amusement.

"What?"

"Nothing. Just surprised that you would bother putting up a front in front of people who aren't in school." Gakushuu scoffed lightly and settled his school bag next to him, before hearing the next part. "Plus it seems that you really don't like her."

He turned slowly to stare back at her, seeing her smirk slightly at his mildly shocked appearance. "What are you talking about?"

"Please. We may not be the best of terms, or on any terms for that matter, but I can read you like an open book. She was so openly gushing over you, and I saw that disgusted look in your eyes that always appears when a fangirling student in school squeals over you. Not to mention, just like in front of those fangirls, you let yourself appear more charming than usual and actually give her your attention." She deadpanned, and he simply stared back at her incredulously. They've only known each other for a couple of months and she already knew him at the back of her hand, while he still couldn't read her. Seeing the frustrated and confused look in his eyes, she smirked slightly. She could tell what was going through his mind.

"There's no need to feel frustrated about not being able to read me. It impressive enough that you got blackmail material on me without my knowledge," she reassured him teasingly, sticking out her tongue at the end of her sentence. Seeing this, a tick mark appeared on Gakushuu's forehead as he gave a strained smile.

"I'll take that as a compliment, but I'm starting to think Akabane is a bad influence on you. You taunt just like him," Gakushuu countered, as Minami returned with his espresso. Teresa frowned slightly at that, before declaring proudly, "Hey, I take offense to that. I taunt _better_ than him."

Gakushuu snorted at that, before smiling lightly as he watched her sip on her drink again. He then froze and mentally slapped himself. Why was he feeling content being with her and chatting with her like this, like they were close friends or something.

"Are you usually like this when you aren't acting?" He asked, and Teresa nodded in response.

"Pretty much." Teresa then licked her lips and looked back up at Gakushuu. "By the way, why did you call me here?"

Gakushuu then became all serious as he remembered his purpose for calling her here. "Obviously, for your weekly report. Found out anything?"

"Oh yeah. Since it is my first day of being in the E class, I would definitely already know their secret. Of course I don't know anything yet," Teresa exclaimed sarcastically. A lie which he bought.

"I see…" He muttered to himself, clearly not pleased by this piece of information.

"I really don't think they have any secrets. Besides, even if they did, it's not like that they trust me enough to tell me. Terasaka-san and his gang were rather upright and blunt about their disbelief and suspicions on my sudden drop in grades and transfer." Teresa added. Hearing this, he looked at her, and in all seriousness, simply replied, "Then win their trust, no matter what it takes."

Teresa frowned and let out an irritated sigh. Just how desperate was he? She propped her elbow on the table to rest her head on her hand, looking away from him and to the side, and widened her eyes as they met Nakamura's. Nakamura blinked twice, before gapping and patting Kataoka's shoulder, who happened to be sitting next to her. Kataoka turned to face Nakamura and saw Teresa in the process. Soon, everyone else at that table, which included Kanzaki, Kayano, Sugino, and Isogai, were facing her direction. She quickly turned back to face Gakushuu to make sure he didn't notice them.

"Anyways, I wanted to confirm one thing. You didn't tell anyone in the E class about this," he asked, gesturing between Teresa and himself, "did you?"

"Of course not." She smoothly lied, ignoring the heated stares of the group that was gathered at a table a few meters away from theirs. Feeling reassured, he finished his cup of espresso before settling his cup down on the table and stretching his hand across the table. She raised a brow at his administrations. "You phone, if you would please."

"What for?" she asked, but took out her phone and unlocked it before handing it to him anyways. He took it from her and went to her contacts list, adding his contact number, before returning the phone to her. "To make it easier for me to inform you where and when we meet. Today was simply a coincidence that you came down to the main campus when I wanted to tell you, but it won't happen every time."

"I'm perfectly fine with not having to meet you at all, though," she muttered to herself, causing Gakushuu to raise a brow in her direction as she took her phone back from him. He slowly got up and stepped out of the booth, grabbing his bag in the process. "I'll contact you the next time we need to meet. Make sure to keep your schedule open to meet me."

"Yes, yes, whatever you say," she replied dismissively, shooing him away. He rolled his eyes and made his way out, and seconds later, Karma and Nagisa entered.

"Teresa-chan! We're here!" Karma called out to Teresa in a laidback tone, right before the small group marched over.

"Teresa-chan, what was that? Why were you with Asano-kun?" Kataoka questioned, confusion and disappointment evident in her tone. The rest of the group appeared to have to same sentiments about what they saw.

"Actually, that's what Teresa-san called us here for. She was going to tell us everything," Nagisa explained for Teresa, and Nakamura frowned.

"Well then, I guess you don't mind us joining in the conversation?" She not so much asked as stated, as she gestured to the rest of the group. Teresa silently nodded and sighed to herself as a single thought appeared in her mind.

'What a fucking pain in the ass...'

* * *

 **Yeah, that's it. So, we can already tell what's going to happen next chapter. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to the next one! Please do review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	8. The Truth Revealed, Class Trip Time

**Hello people. Remember what I said about me having two months of break? Yeah, turns out I was busier than I had expected, plus my parents put a time restriction on the house wifi (FML), so I was only able to recently finish this chapter. I've already started on the next one. Hopefully (like really hopefully) it would be out in the next two weeks. Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 8: The Truth Revealed, Class Trip Time

"So basically, Asano-kun suspects that his father is hiding something, and in order to not let his father notice, decided to send you to the E class to find out what it was," Kataoka summarised, and Teresa nodded in response. The whole group let out sounds of discomfort.

"To think that he could tell that the chairman was hiding something, and that it was related to the E class...Asano really is a monster." Sugino muttered.

"The chairman's even more of a monster to know that Asano-kun is aware just by observing his behaviour without any concrete evidence," Kayano countered, and the rest nodded in agreement. Nakamura then let out a chuckle, causing everyone to turn and face her.

"To be honest, what I'm more interested in is what kind of blackmail Asano-kun got on you," she stated, looking at Teresa, who flushed a brilliant scarlet and looked down, unable to meet anyone's eyes as those humiliating images flashed past her mind. Karma perked up and inched towards Teresa, since he was seated next to her. "So, Teresa-chan, what's the blackmail? You promised you'd show us!"

"I-I didn't promise anything! I simply said you deserved to know what it was!" Teresa exclaimed, slightly backing away from Karma, whose face held a cheeky grin, much like Korosensei's. "All the more reason to show us!"

Teresa bit on her lower lip, hard, as she pulled out the envelope that contained the photos and placed it on the table, before dropping her head and sinking into her misery. Watching her with a raised brow, Nagisa reached forward to take the envelope and opened it before emptying it of its contents.

As soon as the photographs were in view, everyone stilled and gaped at the images before them. Teresa lifted her head, bringing her classmates' varied looks of shock, bewilderment and amusement into view. "As I thought… it looks really bad, doesn't it?"

"What? No…" Kataoka trailed off, eyes still glued to the photos on the table.

"I-It doesn't look that bad!" Kayano stuttered, trying to back Kataoka up on this. She didn't want Teresa to feel any worse than she already did, but in all honesty, those pictures were just so...bad.

"They're lying. These pictures look really bad. Like, really bad. Like the 'ruin your life forever' bad," Nakamura deadpanned, causing Teresa to sweatdrop. "Ugh…"

"Aren't these from the times we hung out?" Karma questioned, as he picked up a certain photograph from the pile before studying it. Teresa hummed and nodded in response, watching him as an unreadable expression appeared on his face. If she had to guess how he was feeling, it was probably between amusement and dissatisfaction. About what, even she wasn't sure herself.

"You guys hung out before?" Kanzaki asked, speaking up for the first time, causing everyone to turn and face the duo.

"Yeah...we met when I was still in the A class, and happened to bump into each other every now and then. And these pictures show each and every time. It was pure coincidence whenever we met, though," Teresa replied, a frown appearing on her face as she studied the photos once more.

The more she thought about it, the more suspicious she got. To have tailed her for so many days without her ever finding out, whoever it was Gakushuu hired was as good as a top-rate professional assassin. Which led to her main concern: who was tailing her and is he still following her?

If it was a colleague from the assassin agency Gid was running, she was going wrangle them and skin them alive. If it were an ex-target or assassin that held a grudge against her, she would need to eliminate them immediately. If it was _him_ , the so-called top assassin, she was so screwed.

"Teresa-san, is something wrong?" Isogai's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked up to face him, while he had a concerned expression on his face. She quickly erased the previous thoughts from her head and smiled brightly.

"No, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Well, you looked rather perturbed by something… that, and you looked like you were going to kill someone," Isogai shakily responded. Teresa blinked, before bursting out laughing, causing everyone to stare at her, slightly flabbergasted. When she calmed down, she slowly looked up at them, with half-lidded eyes filled with eerie bloodlust and an evil smirk, causing their hair to stand.

"Well, I do want to kill Asano-kun for this, but that's something we'll talk about another time." Her intimidating demeanour then morphed into an innocent one, taking all of them off guard, as she smiled sweetly at the group before her. "Anyways, that's all there is to know about what happened between Asano-kun and me."

"Is it okay, though? You, telling us all this? Isn't it, like, against the agreement you two had?" Kayano asked, clearly concerned.

"True, except that that 'agreement' is considered void, on the account of the chairman finding out about it, since one of the conditions was to let no one, especially his father, know about this. And secondly, I had no intentions of actually complying to the 'agreement'." Teresa replied, and the group exchanged looks before looking back at her.

"So, your 'betrayal', per say, to the class, didn't even last a day?" asked Sugino, seemingly confused and clearly trying to keep up.

"I prefer to say it never existed. I'm just pretending to be subservient to him to satisfy him, to bring his hopes up. Did you really think I would seriously do as he say?" she said, directing the last part to Nagisa and Karma. Nagisa laughed nervously and Karma simply shrugged.

"I wasn't sure, but I didn't want to doubt you either," Nagisa explained.

"Yeah, what he said," Karma agreed, making Teresa roll her eyes at the duo. So alike yet so different, these two.

"Wait, you said 'to bring his hopes up'. What for?" Kataoka asked, raising a brow in confusion. The rest of the group, save Karma and Nakamura, who seemed to understand the meaning behind those words, were equally curious about that little detail.

"So that I can completely crush it when I let him know my agreeing to comply to his 'orders' was all an act, and watch him sink in despair when he realises he was played, again," Teresa replied, her tone all innocent with a sweet smile, while she had a palm facing upwards with her fingers curved inwards. Like claws. It didn't help that her nails were considerably long, making the gesture resemble that of claws all the more. Some of them eyed her hand warily, while the others raised a brow at her. Seeing that, she returned the gesture.

"What, did you really think I would act subservient, for the sake of acting subservient, just because he got some blackmail on me, humiliated me, and not to something to make him regret it? There's obviously no way now, is there?" Teresa exclaimed, her tone especially sugary at the end, causing a shiver to run down everyone's spine.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned," Nakamura recited, an amused smirk on her face. She knew Teresa was a unique type of different the moment they met, but this was definitely better than she expected.

"Got that right," Teresa muttered under her breath, low enough so that none of the others heard her.

"But...how do you intend to break it to Asano-kun that the deal is off? Assuming you do tell him eventually," Kanzaki questioned, resulting in the group to face Teresa, who shrugged. "I do intend to tell him, but I have no clue how to deal with him and humiliate him at the same time, which was also partly the reason why I decided to tell you guys about this. To ask for your help."

Hearing this, Nagisa flashed a sweet, and undeniably cute, since he was considered rather androgynous, smile.

"Of course we would help you. We're friends, after all." The rest nodded in agreement, and Teresa, seeing this, couldn't resist a smile, one full of gratitude, from breaking out. "Thank you."

Time seemed to freeze temporarily as they saw Teresa's smile and were in awe. She herself wasn't aware of this effect she had on them as she stared back at the slightly awestruck expressions. She then snapped them out of their daze as she spoke up once more. "But, what are you going to do? To help, that is."

At this, they exchanged looks, clearly contemplating on how to assist her. Nakamura and Karma, on the other hand, smirked deviously, as they both seemingly grew horns and a tail, obviously thinking of the same thing. Nakamura stepped forth and placed a hand on Teresa's shoulder, causing her to turn and face Nakamura, sweatdropping slightly at the sight of her cheeky grin. Feeling a hand on her other shoulder, she turned her head and found herself facing Karma, whose face mirrored Nakamura's, causing her to sweatdrop even more. "Um…"

"Don't worry about that, Teresa-chan!" Karma exclaimed.

"We've got that covered," Nakamura added. Hearing those two say that did nothing to calm her nerves. If anything, she was more anxious than ever.

"I know I'm going to regret asking this...what do you two have in mind?" Teresa asked, and the two exchanged knowing looks, smirking all the while. Nervous, Teresa gulped as Karma's eyes left Nakamura's and landed on hers. Oh boy.

Maybe asking them for help was a bad idea, after all.

"For now, it's a secret. All will be known in due time, Te-re-sa-chan~!" Karma replied teasingly, putting emphasis on the pronunciation of her name before sticking out his tongue at the end. Hearing her name being called out in such a tone caused her cheek to flush a light pink while she furrowed her brows.

"Geez, don't tease me like that…" she whined slightly, trailing off at the end as she averted her eyes and turned to face the other way, Karma chuckling at her reaction all the while. As a result, they didn't realise the mildly amused and intrigued looks their classmates were giving them.

"Hey, do you think…?" Kayano asked Kanzaki, an animated gleam in her eyes, barely able to contain her excitement. Kanzaki gave a small smile, cheeks dusted pink, and replied, "Yes, I think so too."

"Although I admit that I agree, please don't do anything unnecessary. Yes, I'm talking to both of you, Kayano-san, Nakamura-san," Kataoka whispered, making sure to specifically mention their names, causing them to wilt in disappointment. They had so much planned in the instant they saw the two like that!

The ever-attentive Teresa's hyper-sensitive ears picked up on their conversation, causing her to blush harder than before, no doubt her face was red now. Their relationship definitely wasn't whatever they thought it to be, although their behaviour seemed to imply that meaning.

"All that aside," Kataoka spoke up, thankfully clearing Teresa's mind of all those unnecessary thoughts, "to the rest of the class, do you intend to-"

"Let them know about this?" Teresa finished for her, before nodding in response. "Of course I do. I don't see any point in hiding it from the others, now that I have told you guys."

"But Terasaka and the others may not take it very well. I mean, we saw how they reacted to your transfer into the class," Isogai stated matter-of-factly. Remembering the annoying trio, Teresa and the others frowned slightly, while Karma remained indifferent.

"It should be fine. Those three will just have to accept it as it is. More importantly, our main concern should be whether the rest of the class takes it as well as we did," Kataoka said, and Teresa hummed in agreement. "For all our sakes, I hope they do."

* * *

The next day, Isogai and Kataoka helped to gather the class and their teachers for Teresa to tell them everything, except for details on the blackmail material. Aside from those who were already made aware from it, the reactions of those in the class who heard her varied between looks of shock, amusement and disgust.

"I told you she was suspicious. She was spying on us, for heaven's sake! We can't trust her!" Terasaka exclaimed, pounding his fist on the table as he spoke. He had a snarkily triumphant look on his face, as did Muramatsu and Yoshida. Hearing his words, Teresa hung her head and gave a low bow towards the class.

"I can't deny he has said. Despite that, I hope you all could find it in your hearts to forgive me. If you can't, I will respect your decision, since it can't be helped. But please believe me, I had no intentions of doing as Asano-kun told me to," Teresa pleaded, not daring to look up. She was greeted with silence for the next few seconds, which felt like hours, making it unbearable for her. Soon, the sound of a chair scraping against the floor broke the silence, causing her to slowly look up, seeing it was, surprisingly, Okuda who stood up.

"I-I believe you! Amano-san doesn't seem to be the type of person who would lie about this. Besides, you didn't do anything wrong, so there is no need to apologise, or for us to forgive you!" Okuda exclaimed. Teresa's eyes went wide as she stared at the bespectacled girl in pleasant surprise. "Okuda-san…"

"She's right. What you did, you did to protect Korosensei's secret, and us too. If anyone did something wrong, it would be Asano-kun." Said Hara, while munching on… a loaf of bread?

"Intruding on his father's privacy, stalking and blackmailing his classmate. That's some of the few major offenses to be committed." Maehara commented, marvelling at Asano's evilness. Raising a brow at his words, Isogai countered, "Is this really the time to be admiring the enemy? Besides, womanizing and fantasizing about women twenty-four seven is no better!"

"Y-Yuuma!" Maehara exclaimed, alarmed at the fact that his best male friend revealed that fact like it was an everyday thing.

"Maehara-san…" Teresa muttered in disbelief as she stared at the orange-haired boy in aghast. She had predicted that he was the playboy of the class, but she didn't think it was this constant. If he was this bad, how much worse was Ren?

"I'll admit, this is an amusing and surprising plot twist, but it lacks luster and excitement…" Fuwa stated, and Teresa raised a brow upon hearing her. Plot twist? 'Now that I think about it, she mentioned some anime yesterday. Is she one of those 'otakus'?'

"That aside," Yada spoke up, gaining everyone's attention, "we would still accept you as one of us. And besides, it's because of such incidents that us girls have to stick together! Don't you agree?"

"Wholeheartedly in agreement!" Kurahashi exclaimed, raising her hand while smiling cheerily.

"No objections!" The rest of the class, excluding Terasaka, Yoshida and Muramatsu, exclaimed in unison, while Hazama gave an unenthusiastic "Yeah," but was smiling slightly nonetheless. Teresa let out a small sigh of relief, satisfied to have finally overcome this obstacle.

"So, exactly how are you going to deceive him into believing you are earning our trust to 'learn' the secret?" Okano asked, and Teresa chuckled sheepishly as she eyed a certain red-haired boy and blonde girl, "I thought I'd leave that to Karma-san and Nakamura-san. Since they insisted that they wanted to do it as they had an idea."

"They do?" Yada exclaimed, alarmed, as she turned to look back at the said two, who had their cheeky smiles on once more, before quickly turning back to the front to face Teresa. "W-What is the idea?"

"I have no idea, and I don't think I wanna know, to be honest," she replied, looking away. She then looked up to Karasuma. "Karasuma-sensei, despite all this, is it alright with you that I stay in the E class? I wish not to complicate your situation with the government."

Karasuma had an ever-serious look on his face as he replied, "It's fine, as long as you keep his existence a secret."

"I understand." She answered, before hearing a scoff from the back of the class. She turned her head to face the source, who was, unsurprisingly, Terasaka. "You guys are too accepting and naïve. How do we know if she isn't lying right now to earn your trust for the enemy?"

Teresa frowned, opening her mouth to counter him, but was cut off. "You know, Terasaka, it isn't us who is too accepting, it is you who are too untrusting. You have a problem with trusting others. There's nothing wrong with being suspicious about things, but not about everything all the time." Karma snapped, uncharacteristically annoyed. Which in turn pissed Terasaka.

"What the hell, Karma! It has nothing to do with you, so just shut u-"

"I'm telling _you_ to shut up and accept it. All of us have no problems, so neither should you. Besides, why should your selfish insistence override the overall decision?" Karma said, his voice hard as a dull expression appeared on his face.

Terasaka froze up slightly, sensing Karma's irritation rising and was apparently fearful of incurring the red-haired devil's wrath upon himself, and silenced himself, before turning away with a low 'tch'.

Teresa stared at Karma, a little surprised more than a little surprised that he stood up for her. And apparently, she wasn't the only one. She noticed Nagisa's warm smile, Sugino's gaping face, and Kayano's and Kanzaki's blushing cheeks as they grinned to each other knowingly. Realising what they were thinking, Teresa felt heat rush to her cheeks. It's not what they think at all!

"My, my, Karma-kun. When it was anyone else, you would find it too troublesome, but you stood up for and defended Teresa-san. How interesting! Nyurufufufu!" Korosensei chuckled from behind Teresa, causing her to jolt in surprise. She then faced Korosensei and smiled awkwardly.

"What do you mean? We're friends, so that's normal, isn't it? I mean, Nagisa-san and Karma-san are close friends, and Karma-san does protect Nagisa-san from delinquents," Teresa stated, and Korosensei opened his mouth to counter before hearing her next words. "Besides, as a teacher, should you really be teasing your students like this? Don't you have any shame?"

Korosensei physically paled as Teresa shot him a condescending and disgusted look, letting loose just a bit of her bottled up bloodlust. Karma shamelessly chuckled, marvelling at how well she handled Korosensei's pervy and annoying self. The rest of the class seemed just as amused, as they watched Korosensei wilt in a corner, drawing circles on the ground, muttering incoherently to himself, something along the lines of 'kids these days' and 'not understanding adults'.

Teresa raised a brow at Korosensei's current state, before turning to Karma and pointing to Korosensei. "Is he usually like this?"

"More or less," Karma replied, shrugging. As she slowly made her way to her seat, Kataoka's face lit up in realisation, before walking over to Nagisa's desk. "Nagisa, have you decided on the members of your group?"

"Eh? My group?" Nagisa said, staring at her in confusion. Kataoka nodded in response. "Once you've decided, please come and tell one of your class representatives, either me or Isogai, alright?"

"...Huh?" Kayano popped up behind him, holding up a pamphlet with the word 'Kyoto' on it, and flashed him a wide smile. "Have you forgotten? She's talking about our school trip coming up next week!"

Hearing that, Teresa whipped her head around to face Karma. "Really? We're having a school trip?"

"Mhm. To Kyoto. Didn't you get briefed on this when you were in the main campus?" Karma replied, a little taken aback that Teresa was unaware of this. She shook her head in response, and turned to look at Nagisa and Kayano once more.

"Honestly, you've just begun your time as third years, and they organize a school trip at a time like this," Korosensei began, seemingly getting out of his previous slump, catching their attention as he slithered in front of them.

"Sensei can't say he approves, nor is he interested."

"Says the octopus as he dressed up in a geisha, with a wig and genuine makeup, all raring to go," Teresa deadpanned from the back of the class, as she watched Korosensei with a blank look on her face, but had an amused glint in her eyes.

"You're totally giddy about it, aren't you?!" Maehara howled.

"You even went and got dressed up as an apprentice geisha!" Mimura exclaimed, following up Maehara on the matter.

"What's more, it looks good on him!" Okajima added in disbelief. Korosensei changed out of that ridiculous get-up into his usual black robes, and removed the makeup as well, revealing his usual yellow-coloured face. With pink hues on his cheeks as he scratched his round face with his tentacles, he sheepishly confessed, "You got me. I can hardly wait to go on this trip with all of you, so I can't help but be excited about it."

"First, a test. And now, a school trip to Kyoto? What's with this school, there's no time for a breather," Teresa muttered under her breath. What was with that chairman, using every single second as a teaching moment.

Later that day during physical education, Karasuma gathered the class for a quick briefing on the trip.

"As you all should be aware by now, next week we are having a three-day two-night trip to Kyoto. I don't want to put a damp your enthusiasm or hinder your enjoyment, but you're still on duty during this trip. Your mission extends to this as well." He explained. There was a moment of silence, before Okano spoke up. "You mean to say, we are to attempt to assassinate him there?"

"That is precisely correct. There is a vast difference between the size of Kyoto's streets and this classroom, not to mention more complex too, which complicates things. So, the plan is for you to move around in groups, and your individual groups' sightseeing routes will be determined in advance by yourselves. He will be accompanying your groups one by one. The location is ideal for snipers to strike. The government has already made arrangements for a professional sniper to join you on your trip and assist you in your assassination plans. Should any of your groups be successful, the ten billion yen award will be divided amongst those who contributed, according to the degree of your contributions."

"Yes, sir." Everyone chorused in unison, before returning to class. While everyone else practised their shooting and knife work, Karasuma called Teresa over for a one-on-one session with him, something she noticed Hinano reacted badly to by hissing venomously, causing her to sweatdrop slightly.

"You said before, that you're good at shooting?" He questioned, to which she gave a small smile and a slight shrug, "Well, according to the scores I attained while playing shooting games at arcades, yes."

Handing her a pistol, loaded with anti-Korosensei BB-pellets, Karasuma nodded towards a few targets, that had Korosensei's face painted on them, and said, "Please demonstrate to me, then."

Teresa, holding the pistol with her right hand, flipped it upside down, with her pinkie at the trigger, while she shoved her left hand into the pocket of the jacket of her PE uniform, as she aimed it. Unbeknownst to her, several members of the class were glancing her way, curious as to how she would perform. Surprisingly, one of them was Terasaka. Without hesitation, she shot at all three within a second, bullseye every time. Karasuma marvelled at her accuracy and speed and hummed in approval.

"That was perfect. It almost seems impossible that you gained such skills by playing at the arcade," Karasuma commented, and Teresa bit her lower lip as a blush surfaced on her cheeks, pretending to be embarrassed by the praise. When in actual fact, she was freaking out inside, worried that she may have showed off a little too much of the extent of her skill. She didn't want any bells about her identity going off in Karasuma's mind. Gid had informed the government about sending an assassin, but didn't let it known it was her, so that she could use the element of surprise when she finally constructed a plan to assassinate Korosensei.

"Well, you know what they say, practise makes perfect," she stated, chuckling at the end while nervously twirling a lock of hair between her fingers, anxiously awaiting Karasuma's response. He stared at her a while, before sighing and cracking a small smile. "That's true."

She let out a low sigh of relief, before smiling brightly in response. Karasuma then picked up an anti-Korosensei knife and tossed it to Teresa, who pretended to clumsily fumble before catching it, and faced her holding another knife in his hand.

"I will personally instruct and practise with you your knife work, since the rest of the class already began from the beginning of the year," he explained, and Teresa resisted the urge to roll her eyes. If only he knew, he wouldn't think that way, nor would he dare underestimate her. Instead, she opted to laugh nervously before letting her ass get handed to her for the rest of the lesson.

* * *

When the bell rang, indicating the end of PE, Teresa rubbed her lower back as she followed the rest of the class into the classroom. "Good lord, I'll be lucky not to have any issues with my spine or tailbone by the end of the year…" she groaned, doing her best to sooth the ache in her lower back. Despite having gone through much tougher training and worse pain than this, she can't deny the fact that Karasuma was definitely not holding back at all, and that caused her to fall on her behind multiple times. If it weren't for the purpose of not standing out, she would've killed him in retaliation.

"Are you alright, queen?" Maehara asked, snapping her out of her thoughts to face him. Seeing the concerned look on his face, she quickly flashed him a smile. "Yes, I'm fine...but Karasuma-sensei throws hard...I'm surprised my butt bone didn't crack under the pressure."

Maehara chuckled in response "Well, that's Karasuma-sensei for you! He's a spartan trainer and teacher. I'm surprised you managed to hold up for the entire lesson. Yuuma and I can barely keep up for five minutes. Right, Yuuma?" he asked, turning to face Isogai, who nodded in agreement. "We can barely keep up with his movements and react accordingly to his speed. I must admit, it was impressive that you got the basics of knife work hands down, and so quickly too."

Teresa laughed nervously. "Beginner's luck, that's all that that is. As for keeping up with his movements, that was more of me predicting how he would attack. Some of my predictions were wrong, though," she answered honestly. Karasuma was quick to change course several times she accurately predicted his next move, each time resulting in her falling on her behind. "I could use some practise to get better."

"Then, shall I practise with you?" Karma's voice rang out, before she felt him sling his arm around her shoulders. She noticed Isogai and Maehara visibly stiffen before putting some distance between themselves and the red head. Looks like they were still wary of his delinquency.

She slowly turned her head to the side, to find Karma face inches away from hers, and smiled widely. "I'll take up your offer on that!"

When they returned to class, changed back into their school uniforms, Kayano, Okuda, Nagisa, Sugino and Karma were gather at Nagisa's desk, as Nagisa stared at a piece of paper, no doubt for him to write down his group members.

"School trip groups, huh?" Nagisa said to himself, looking at the paper, before turning his head to look at Karma. "Karma-kun, wanna be in the same group as me?"

The said boy, who was originally looking out of the windows and observing the scenery around the classroom, turned to face the bluenette upon hearing his question, and gave a small smile before replying, "Hm? Okay, then."

"Eh? You sure you're alright with that, Karma? You won't pick fights and get into trouble during our trip, will you?" Sugino asked, without a doubt concerned for the safety of his friends and himself. There's no way t be sure whether or not they'll hold up in a fight, and they definitely are worlds apart from Karma in terms of physical strength and experience in fighting. Karma simply chuckled in response

"No sweat, it'll be fi~ne," he began, before pulling out a photograph from his pocket. On it, was Karma in the middle of two students, a girl and a boy, both holding their IDs and making them clear as day, with his hands on each of their shoulders. As he held the photo up for them to see, he seemingly grew horns and a tail, as that same cheeky grin from before resurfaced and an intimidating aura surrounded him. "When I fight offsite, I make sure to silence any witnesses, so that it won't become public knowledge."

"Oi, as I thought, let's not have him join our group!" Sugino exclaimed in a hushed tone to Nagisa, who could only laugh nervously as he looked away. "Uh...but I get why he's like that, and besides, we are old friends…"

Karma then appeared in front of them and bent over to look at the paper in Nagisa's hands. "So, who else is in the group? Nagisa-kun, Sugino, Kayano-chan, and…?" Kayano pulled a blushing Okuda over, before replying, "Oh, I invited Okuda-san!"

"We need six members per group, so why don't we make our last member a girl, to even the odds?" Karma suggested, as his eyes slid across the classroom and landed on a certain raven-haired girl, who was quietly reading a light novel and seemingly unaware of what's happening around her. Truth be told, she was simply listening and getting to know her surroundings and classmates, but she herself wasn't too aware of Karma's gaze on her.

"Ehehe. I've actually expected this, so I asked her long in advance just for this occasion!" Sugino exclaimed, before stepping to the side to reveal Kanzaki. "How about inviting the class madonna, Kanzaki-san?"

"Oh! No complaints here!" Kayano exclaimed, looking thrilled to be able to hang out with Kanzaki again. There wasn't anyway they wouldn't want her: she was diligent, lady-like, and above all, beautiful. She didn't stand out much, but she's popular with the class. There was no one that would mind being in the same group as her. Teresa stopped reading and slowly looked up in the direction of Nagisa and the gang, just in time to see Kanzaki bowing towards Nagisa politely. "Please take care of me, Nagisa-kun."

"S-Sure…" Nagisa trailed off, a small blush on his cheeks, something Teresa noted with amusement and interest. Does he have a thing for Kanzaki, or was he just charmed by her personality? Not that it mattered. She then looked over to Karma, before blinking in surprise as her eyes met his. Noticing her staring his way, he quickly averted his gaze towards Nagisa once more. Teresa raised a brow in confusion at his reaction. What's that about?

"Alright! Now that that's been decided, let's figure out where we'll be going!" Kayano exclaimed excitedly as she studied a map of the streets of Kyoto with the rest of the group. Behind them stood an uncomfortable-looking Irina, who had her arms folded across her chest as she stared at the students around her, getting all excited over a little school trip.

"Hmph! You're all such children!" Irina scoffed, with a small smirk as she flipped her hair, "going on this sort of trip is too little, too late, for someone like me, who has been all over the world-"

"Then stay behind and look after things, Bitch-sensei," Maehara said, as he looked at another map, with Okano next to him, who also added, "Make sure to keep the flower bed watered, 'kay?"

A blank yet stunned look appeared on her face, as the class continued their discussion. Hearing them yap on like she wasn't around, Teresa could practically see the irritation bubble up within her, before she finally exploded, as she pulled out a pistol which, she noted with slight interest, was a golden Remington 1866 Derringer, which was no doubt loaded with real bullets. Teresa raised a brow in amusement as she resisted the urge to laugh while watching the scene before her unravel.

"What the hell?! Don't go talking like you're going to leave me out of the fun and have a great time without me!" She howled, pointing her gun at them, to be precise, at Maehara, who visibly freaked out, and screamed in response, "Argh, geez! Do you want to come or not?! Make up your mind already!"

"Shut up! I guess I'll have no choice but to go along!" Irina exclaimed, as if she had no choice, but Teresa could tell that she really wanted to, if the longing look in her eyes were anything to go by…

Soon, the sound of the classroom door sliding open caught everyone's attention, and they all turned towards the door to see Korosensei carrying tons of thick books on his tentacles. What were those supposed to be.

"One for each of you!" said Korosensei. Isogai looked at those books with a look of disbelief before asking, "What are those?"

"School trip guidebooks," Korosensei replied, before he handed out the books to each student at Mach speed, who, upon receiving their book, almost fell over.

"S-So heavy…!" Mimura exclaimed, as Maehara appeared, holding up the book as he comically glared at their homeroom teacher, yelling, "They're practically dictionaries, aren't they?!"

As he skimmed through his own copy, Korosensei began to explain, "It is an illustrated guide I created last night. It includes every sightseeing spot in Kyoto, the top 100 souvenirs, and basic to advanced self-defense techniques for travelling, from square one to practical use! This first edition comes with a papercraft model of Kinkakuji!" he added, holding up the very model mentioned.

"Just how psyched up are you for this?!" Okajima exclaimed. As Teresa watched the class get all excited, she decided to voice her question. "Korosensei can get to Kyoto by approximately a minute or less, right? Would you be travelling with us?"

"To answer your first question, Teresa-san, yes, I can, in 35 seconds to be exact. And as for your second question, there is a difference between simply travelling and going there on a trip. I look forward to being there with everyone, to encounter good and bad things with everyone. I would happy to be able to travel with everyone." Korosensei answered, putting a tentacle-like hand on her head," Korosensei replied, placing a tentacle-like hand on her head, to which Teresa smiled, and said, "I look forward to the school trip, then!"

"By the way, Teresa-san, have you found a group yet?" Teresa averted her eyes as a slightly dejected look appeared. "No...I don't know which group I should join, and no one invited me into their group either…"

Karma then stepped forward with his usual laidback smile. "Then why don't you join our group? Since you joined our class, there's bound to be a few groups of seven."

"Indeed. Not to mention, in this class, you appear to be closest to Karma-kun and Nagisa-kun, so you'd be more comfortable being in the same group as them," Korosensei added, making Teresa turn to look at Karma and Nagisa. "Are you sure I won't be bothering you by doing so?"

"Of course not! We'd gladly welcome you, Teresa-san!" Nagisa exclaimed, as the rest of the group nodded in agreement. Teresa let out a sigh of relief, before looking behind her to see Korosensei scribbling furiously in a notepad, mumbling something about a threesome between Karma, Nagisa and herself, making her cringe in disgust, as she shot a glare at him, which caught his attention.

"Korosensei...please don't go fantasizing about the most vulgar and ridiculous of things about your students and then jot them down...that's one disturbing fetish you have there," she scowled disapprovingly, as did everyone else who heard her, causing Korosensei to visibly pale and turn a light blue at the intensity of their glares. "H-How did you know about sensei's habit-"

"Nagisa-san told me about some of your habits, this being a rather frequent one," Teresa replied, a hand on her hip as she stood up and, quite literally, looked down on Korosensei, who wilted further.

"Korosensei, you're the worst," Nakamura teased, rubbing salt into the wound as Korosensei mentally broke, before melting into a lump of self-hate. Seeing his back turned on them, she silently drew her pistol, loaded with anti-Korosensei BB pellets, and signalled the class to do the same. Watching her, amused, the class quickly took out their weapons and lunged into a full-on frontal attack, throwing Korosensei into a panic from the shock of being taken by surprise. However, as expected, they weren't going to get him that easily. He eventually managed to escape, and swiped their weapons, before standing at the front of the class, and dropping them on the ground.

"That was a rather well thought out plan, Teresa-san. To manipulate me into a situation where I had my back turned, and using that moment as an opening for an assassination attempt! I have a question though, did you plan this with the class?" Korosensei praised, before ending off with a question. Teresa shook her head in response, before replying, "I didn't. I thought of it in the heat of the moment. Besides, it would be better not to tell them, since doing so would decrease the effectiveness of their performance, and make it less convincing. But as I thought, it wasn't enough to kill you."

Korosensei chuckled. "A very well thought plan, indeed. Too bad I'm too fast for you! Better luck next time!" he teased, green stripes appearing on his face as his unique laughter filled the air. Teresa furrowed her brows, but kept a smile on her face, while some of her classmates sighed in disappointment at another failed attempt. She then sensed Karma approaching her and turned to face him, as he gave her a small smirk. "Looks like we will be in the same group. I look forward to our time together, Teresa-chan!"

"Me too! And please, stop adding '-chan' to the end of my name," Teresa replied with a small pout, before ultimately smiling at the red-haired boy, who gladly returned it. He himself didn't understand why, he couldn't help but feel more and more attracted to the raven-haired girl the more he got to know her. What's more, he couldn't bring himself to pull away from her.

* * *

"A school trip?" Edward asked, as he watched Teresa neatly fold and put away some clothes, toiletries, necessities, and last but not least, her anti-Korosensei weapons into a camping bag, all the while sitting on her bed. Teresa gave a small nod as she zipped up the camping bag, and tilted her head slightly, just enough for her to look over her shoulder, as she looked at Edward, straight in the eye. "Yeah, and I'm afraid it's too risky for you to follow me, even if from a distance. So I need to bring my own weapons. Tell Lala to prepare metal-sensor deflecting casing for both my gun and my dagger."

"Understood," Edward replied, as he fished his phone out of his pocket and sent a text message to Gid, as Teresa placed the camping bag to one side, before sitting down on the edge of the bed. She received all of the weaknesses Nagisa had noted so far, and she was satisfied to find her situation, mental, and emotion manipulating skills as effective on Korosensei as on any other human. Despite that, it wasn't sufficient, in her opinion. Just like today's attempt, despite exploiting his weakness and manipulating him right into her trap, it was still unsuccessful. She needed a bigger and more critical weakness, one that would crucial for her success in assassinating him. Hopefully this upcoming trip might give her something.

* * *

Soon, the day of the trip came. As she walked over to the carriage that the E class students would be sitting in, she froze halfway, sensing someone's gaze on her. It felt the same as the gaze she felt that day she returned home after dinner with Karma and Nagisa, before she had been transferred into the E class. She whipped around and observed her surroundings cautiously, looking out for anyone suspicious. Caught up in her search, she barely noticed a certain presence approaching from behind her.

She jolted in surprise when she felt a hand on her shoulder. Fully alert of him and tapping into her assassin mode, she whirled around and reached her hand out, ready to grab his neck, but stilled when she realised it was Gakushuu. She stared at him with wide eyes, still tense and ready to go in for the kill, while he rose a brow at the hand she was about to launch at his neck. "What...were you about to do?"

"I-It's nothing," she muttered, quickly putting her hand down and looking away, letting out a few shaky breaths as she calmed herself down. Gakushuu stared at her in confusion of how shaken up she appeared, before she turned to face him once more, back to her usual self. "So, why are you here?"

"I'm also a student, so it's only natural I go for this trip."

"That's...not what I'm talking about," she deadpanned, staring at him with a 'really' look. Was he being literal, or just yanking her chain? Because truth be told, he was the last person she wanted to see for the next three days and two nights.

"I wanted to confirm that you hadn't told the students of the E class about our deal," Gakushuu stated, and Teresa rolled her eyes before frowning at him. "Like I'd actually be proud to share, and want to share. You humiliating me is bad enough, I don't need anyone else, much less a certain red-haired boy, to add on the humiliation."

"It had better be that way. You know what would happen if you said anything, don't you?" he said, and Teresa sighed. Like this was the first time he was threatening her. "So much so that I could hate you."

"The feeling's mutual," Gakushuu replied, smirking at Teresa's annoyed expression. It faded, though, when the subject of their conversation appeared behind Teresa.

"Asano-kun, mind telling me what you're doing to my classmate?" Karma asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her towards him, a gesture that confused Teresa, but she didn't back away. She took a peek at his face, and noticed an eerily calm smile on his face. Gakushuu scoffed in response after eying the gesture with much annoyance, something Teresa noted with much confusion, before walking away while saying, "It's none of your business."

Teresa then felt Karma's grip on her waist slacken and she stepped away before turning her body fully to face him with a grateful smile. "Thanks for the save, Karma-san. He was starting to annoy me."

"Any time, Teresa-chan! From the looks of things, you may have many boys chasing you on your tail. I should hang out with you more, I may get more chances to fight gangsters and delinquents, like when we first met! You make bait as good as Nagisa-kun does!" Karma exclaimed with an exhilarated gleam in his eyes, at which Teresa chuckled nervously. "I don't mind, as long as you don't get me involved in those fights."

"Deal!" They then walked towards the second-class carriage, where the rest of the class were, and saw a group staring at the first-class carriage as students filed in.

"Uwah, class A to D are riding first-class!" Sugaya said, eying them enviously while Nakamura sighed. "We're the only ones in second-class. That has never changed."

Having heard them, Ono-sensei stopped right before entering and turned to face them with a condescending smirk. "These are the regulations of our school, and they were explained when you first came here." Teresa's eyes narrowed dangerously towards Ono-sensei, her initial smile falling into a frown. She didn't appreciate how...full of himself this man was. Apparently she wasn't the only one, as she felt Karma's heated stare on Ono-sensei, who seemingly wilted away slightly, before Tanaka and Takada, the two she remembered who had been harassing Nagisa, appeared.

"Students with exceptional grades receive priority use of the school funds," Takada said, pushing up a pair of sunglasses, as his friend Tanaka added with a sneer, "My, my, is that the stench of poverty I smell?"

"Then you must be sniffing yourself," Teresa muttered. It was not intended for anyone to hear her, but apparently she didn't say it as silently as she thought she did. Soon, Karma laughed out loud, not caring about being subtle, while the rest chuckled to themselves, amused by her bluntness, while the trio before them gritted their teeth in anger.

"Do pardon me. Greetings, my students," a familiarly seductive voice rang out from behind, catching everyone's attention. Teresa could only stare at the attire she noticed Irina was in.

She was clad in a pink blouse lined with ruffles, and a black, studded skirt, overall covered by a, if she had to guess, real fur coat. She wore a pair of black stockings with lace flower patterns, maroon high-heeled ankle boots, a knitted woolen cap on her head as a thick, golden chain-like choker donned her neck, all the while exposing an unnecessarily large amount of cleavage and carrying a red, genuine leather bag.

All in all, she was inappropriately and overly dressed.

While the assassin within Teresa questioned Irina's professionalism and who trained her, the rest of the class questioned Irina on her look.

"What's with that Hollywood celebrity attire?" Kimura asked. Irina chuckled before removing her sunglasses. "It's given for any assassin to want to use their womanly wiles to their advantage. It's perfect for when a target invites you along for a vacation. If he becomes disillusioned by your unfashionable sense in clothes, you're bound to lose the chance you've been waiting for. A good woman never neglects her fashion sense, regardless of whether or not their travelling."

During her little speech, she failed to notice the ominous presence called Karasuma loom behind her. "You're too conspicuous. Go and change your clothes. No matter how you look at it, those aren't the type of clothes a supervising teacher should be wearing."

"Oh, don't be so uptight, Karasuma! I'm guiding these brats on a trip to adultho-" she bit her tongue when she saw the livid look on Karasuma's face as he growled with a tone of finality, "Take it off and get changed. Now."

In the next moment, Irina was dressed in her sleepwear, which consisted of a purple, long-sleeved hoodie and matching purple pants, as she sulked in a corner seat in the carriage, while Karasuma sat opposite her, studying some documents. Isogai and Kataoka stared at her, sweatdropping while sympathizing her.

"Who's chaperoning who now?" Kataoka muttered, while Isogai reasoned with her. "Since she's rich and only here to kill Korosensei, she must've gotten disconnected with how the regular masses think."

As everyone got settled, Teresa stilled as she looked at their seats. Each side was meant for a maximum of three occupants, which meant someone had to sit alone. Kayano was insistent on sitting with Nagisa, as was Sugino with Kanzaki. Karma didn't seem to care who he sat with, and Okuda looked to timid to say anything.

"I'll sit at the table beside yours," Teresa said, and Nagisa looked up at her, concerned. "Are you sure you don't want to sit with us?"

"Of course I do, but as you can see, one of us has to sit alone. I don't want to cause any trouble for you, so I'll sit alone," Teresa replied, beaming lightly and took a seat at the table across theirs.

Settling her bag down on the seat next to her, she pulled out a light novel and began reading, not giving a care about the world. All the while unaware of the uncomfortable and guilty looks exchanged between her groupmates.

"Neh, Nagisa," Kayano whispered, and Nagisa leaned over to hear her out, as she continued, "despite how friendly she is and how well she gets along with the class, do you get the feeling that she has a tendency to isolate herself?"

"Yeah...it's like there's an invisible wall between her and us. Not like she looks down on us, but like she doesn't dare to get close to anyone, or vice versa," Nagisa replied in agreement. Even from the first time they had met, he always sensed there was a certain distance that she kept between herself and everyone else.

"Maybe it's just a matter of needing personal space?" Sugino suggested, and Nagisa shook his head. "More like she is afraid of getting more personal with us."

"P-Perhaps she's just shy?" Okuda asked, and Karma snickered. "Would someone shy bother being friends with me?" Everyone exchanged a look before replying with a resounding 'no'. Of course not, no shy person, in their sane mind, would befriend Karma. They'd be too afraid to.

"I think she is afraid of others seeing who she truly is, and is unsure of where she belongs," Kanzaki suddenly stated in a low voice, her bright eyes dimmer than usual as her mind seemed to float to a very far place. One that was dark and painful. Nagisa glanced at Kanzaki, concern filling his being. "Kanzaki-san?"

"Ah! It's nothing!" Kanzaki exclaimed, snapping out of her reverie as she waved both hands in front of her. Soon the train took off, and as Sugino looked around and took note of where each group sat, he perked up in surprise. "Eh? The train has already departed, but I don't see Korosensei?"

At that, the group looked over their seats and quickly scanned the carriage, before they heard a plop on the window. Turning to face the window, Nagisa and Sugino jumped in surprise. "K-Korosensei! Why are you clinging unto the window?!"

"I was so busy buying sweets at the station, I had completely forgotten the departure time and missed the train. I will be travelling with you like this till the next station. Ah, don't worry. With my camouflage, so it'll only look like my clothes are stuck onto the train!"

"That is just as unnatural!" Sugino exclaimed.

When they reached the next station, Korosensei boarded the train and settled into his seat, wiping away his sweat with a hankie. "Well, that was tiring. Travelling while trying to make sure you don't stand out certainly is rough."

"Then don't carry around such an enormous baggage with you!" Okajima said.

"You already stand out enough as it is, though," Kurahashi commented, bended over to observe her teacher. Nakamura nodded in agreement, and added on, "Besides, isn't it, like, really bad for a state secret to be out and about so easily and to stand out like that and attract attention?"

"Nyuya!"

"And on top of that, up close, that lame excuse of a disguise isn't gonna fool anyone," Nakamura finished, watching in amusement as Korosensei's fake nose fell off his face and onto the ground. A few seats ahead, Sugaya was carving something. Blowing away the wooden dust from his handiwork, he called out to Korosensei and tossed it to him. "Here you go, Korosensei! First, we should fix that droopy nose of yours."

"Ohhh! What an amazing fit!" Korosensei commented as he stuck the fake nose on, marvelling Sugaya's handiwork. Sugaya chuckled as he tossed up and caught his carving tools. "I carved it so it'll fit the roundness and look of your face. Making stuff like that is a talent of mine."

"That's incredible, Sugaya!" Isogai exclaimed, looking at said boy over his seat. Kurahashi looked Korosensei over once more before nodding her head in approval. "It looks much more natural now, compared to before!"

"When we're travelling, you tend to see unknown and unexpected sides of people who are right next to you," Kayano commented, and Nagisa nodded in agreement, before putting down a card on the table. "And depending on how this trip turns out, who knows whose true colours will be revealed?"

As soon as those words left his lips, he looked over to Teresa, who was still reading her book. It would be nice to know more about her too, as a classmate and a friend…

"I can feel your gaze on me, Nagisa-san," Teresa suddenly said, not looking away from her book, causing Nagisa to stiffen with a tense smile as he turned to face Teresa. "...Eh?" Teresa closed her book and set it on her lap, before pivoting her body to face him with her ever-alluring smile. "Something on your mind?"

"W-Well, I just thought you'd might want to spend some time with us? Since we are in the same group…" Nagisa nervously stuttered, and Teresa stared at him for a while, contemplating on whether or not it was worth her time. She rather focus on studying her target, but she didn't want to stand out too much to Korosensei and make him become concerned about her.

"I don't mind," she said, walking over to their seat before settling down beside Kayano, who scooted over a little to make space for her. Looking around at the group, she blinked, seeing how intently Sugino was eying Kanzaki, who was focussed on her cards and completely unaware of the undivided attention he was giving her. The side of her lips twitched upwards in amusement. Looking towards Karma's direction, she instantly knew that he too noticed the way Sugino had been looking at Kanzaki. When his eyes met her, they both nodded in silent agreement, before hearing Kanzaki speak up, "I'm going to buy drinks for everyone. Who wants what?"

"Strawberry milk," Karma replied, and Teresa followed up without skipping a beat, "Chocolate milk."

"Water is fine. Sugino?" Nagisa asked, to which said boy jumped and replied hastily, "Um, water for me too, then…"

"Uh, I'll come with you," Okuda said, raising her hand. Being the ever-supportive gal, Kayano, too, raised her hand, exclaiming, "Me too!"

As the three made their way out to the next carriage, Teresa watched as Kanzaki bumped into a high schooler before apologizing and continuing their way. Eying the high schooler, she took note of his uniform and furrowed her brows. It looked awfully familiar… On top of that, she noticed him bending down and picking up a white notebook.

Karma noticed the suspicious look on her face, and asked, "Something wrong, Teresa-chan?" Teresa tilted her head slightly to look at him, before giving him a small smile. "No, it's nothing."

"If you're worried about them, you should've followed them," Sugino said, putting down a card. At that, Teresa smirked slightly, causing a chill to run down Sugino's spine, as he looked at her. 'I got a bad feeling about this…'

"Why didn't you?" Teresa countered, and a shocked look flitted past his face. "W-Why would I-"

"You like Kanzaki-san, don't you?" The reaction she got was simply wonderful. She, along with Karma, watched with immense amusement as Sugino's face turned cherry red while staring at her with wide eyes. Nagisa let out a sigh with a resigned smile. Seeing his influence on her now, he was starting to think Teresa hanging out with Karma was a bad thing. He observed as Sugino stuttered non-stop in a fruitless attempt to counter Teresa. "W-What on earth a-are you-?"

"You were looking at Kanzaki-san the entire time, even during our card game and after she left to get drinks for everyone," Karma stated, obviously having a field day as he watched Sugino bite his lower lip and avert his eyes, unable to fight back while getting all squirmish. Nagisa, finally taking pity on the guy, spoke up, "Karma-kun, Teresa-san, isn't it enough? Give the poor guy a rest."

"Che~ Don't be such a stick in the mud, Nagisa-kun/san," Karma and Teresa replied simultaneously with matching smiles, making Nagisa sweatdrop at how similar they were. Sugino, after much internal conflict, slowly looked up at them. "You're not going to tell her, are you?"

"Of course not. In fact, I think you two make a cute couple! However, stall too long, and she may get taken by someone else, like say, Sakakibara Ren-kun? From what I know, he's a big flirt, and Kanzaki-san is definitely the type he'd hit on," Teresa commented, and Sugino calmed down a bit, only to tense up when Karma added, "In fact, take too long and I might just tell her!"

"D-Don't you dare, Karma-kun!" Nagisa exclaimed, and Teresa nodded in agreement. "You know better than to mess with matters of the heart. Heck, you are better than that!" Karma stared at Teresa in surprise upon hearing her say that, before cracking a genuine smile and waving her off with a lazy 'alright, alright'.

"Don't tell who what?" Kayano asked, bending over the table, catching Nagisa and Sugino by surprise. Teresa had heard their footsteps approaching them, so she wasn't at all taken aback, and as for Karma, he had the same indifferent look on his face, so no one could really tell if he was surprised or not, before speaking up to cover for them, "Nothing much. More importantly, where are our drinks?"

"H-Here you go," Okuda stammered, handing a carton of strawberry milk and chocolate milk to Karma and Teresa respectively, as both of them gave her their thanks. As everyone else received theirs, the girls settled into their seats, and continued their card games. "By the way, how much longer 'till we reach?"

"Since we are taking a bullet train, followed by a bus, it should take about two and half hours to get to Kyoto from Tokyo. About half an hour has passed, so, two more hours?" Nagisa replied, and Teresa let out an exasperated sigh as she leaned back and tilted her head back. "Man, the next two hours is gonna be a bore if all we do is play card games…"

"Teresa-chan, what do you usually do during your free time?" Kanzaki asked, and Teresa stilled, thinking about how she should reply. 'Taking up and completing assassination missions, and polishing all of my combat skills as an assassin', definitely wasn't the right thing to say. She put on a thinking face before hesitantly replying, "I compose music when I feel inspired by something, I guess. Sometimes I arrange music too. Playing instruments has proven to be a great way of unwinding."

"Uwah, that's amazing! Teresa-san, I didn't know you were musically inclined!" Sugino praised, and Teresa offered a small smile. "Well, I enjoy playing the piano and guitar the most, considering the fact that I've leant to play them when I was much younger."

"I feel kinda honoured. We're the only ones who know this about Teresa-san," Nagisa commented, and Teresa sweatdropped before replying, "It's nothing to be honoured about, to be honest. Besides, you aren't the only ones. Asano-kun is aware too."

"Why him, of all people?" Karma asked, an unreadable look on his face.

"He caught me playing the piano once in the main campus, so I told him. Is that a bad thing?" Karma shook his head in response. "Nah, just a little vexed that he found out before m- us." Teresa raised a brow in confusion, not noticing the knowing looks exchanged between the rest of the group.

* * *

Two hours later…

"Finally, we've arrived. I was just about tired of the train ride," Teresa moaned, stretching her arms as they checked into the inn they were staying in. Her eyes then slid over to Korosensei, who had been reduced to a pile of mush, looking very blue in the face. "What's with him?"

"...It's only his face day and he's already on the verge of death," Kataoka muttered, before getting followed up by Mimura. "So he gets all sick and groggy from riding the bullet train and the bus?" Teresa peered over Nagisa's shoulder as he jotted it down into his notebook.

 _Korosensei's Weakness (8) Prone to motion sickness_

"Motion sickness, huh… Just like the dragon slayers from Fairy Tail?" Fuwa stated, rubbing her chin. Teresa sweatdropped at the anime reference once more. As weird as she found it, she wouldn't deny that this whole 'anime' thing piqued her interest. "So, do you, like, get sick on boats too?"

"Yes, that's right…" Korosensei managed to groan out in reply. Okano took out her anti-Korosensei knife and swiped downwards onto Korosensei's head, only for him to slide sideways and away from the blade at Mach speed, while she asked, "Are you sure you're alright? Wanna take a rest in your room?"

"No… It's nothing to worry about. I'll head back to Tokyo for a bit after I've recovered from this. Since I happened to have left my pillow behind." The class stared at him, then his ridiculously large luggage in disbelief. With a bag that big, to think he actually forgot something… At this, Teresa noticed Nagisa jotting down notes again.

 _Korosensei's Weakness (9) Can't sleep without his own pillow_

Teresa sweatdropped as she read that. Would that really help in an assassination attempt? Well, so far his notes have never let them down, so she shouldn't doubt him yet.

"How is it, Kanzaki-san? Any luck in finding the itinerary?" Teresa heard Kayano ask, before turning around to look at the two girls, currently digging through Kanzaki's hand carry. She watched as Kanzaki shook her head with a disappointed frown. "No… I can't find it."

Korosensei apparently also heard their distress. "Kanzaki-san sure is diligent. I was quite impressed when she put a schedule together. Still, there is no need to worry," he said, a tentacle holding up that ridiculous guide book, "as long as you have my handmade guide book, everything will be fine!"

"The main purpose as to why we put together a schedule is because we don't wanna carry that thing around!" Maehara and Okajima exclaimed simultaneously. Kanzaki looked extremely stressed as she looked through her bag once more. "I'm certain I put it in my bag...it must have dropped out somewhere."

"Kanzaki-san, is your itinerary written in a white-covered notebook?" Teresa questioned, and Kanzaki replied with a surprised 'yes'. Teresa frowned, not liking the sinking feeling she was getting.

"Do you know where it is, Teresa-chan?" Kayano asked, glancing at her expectantly. "I'm not sure. Remember those high schooler you bumped into when you girls when to get drinks for us? One of them picked up a notebook that fell to the ground. I think that might have been yours."

Shock flitted past both girl's eyes as they stood up, alarmed. "T-Then, let's find them-"

"There's no point. They are from a different school, and we don't even know where they are staying, assuming they are even on a school trip," Teresa reasoned, and Kayano's face held a downcast look. Kanzaki, however, mustered a smile. "It's fine. I remember roughly what was written down in it, so there shouldn't be any problem."

"Then, we'll leave you to lead the way," Karma said in a lazy tone, standing a distance behind with Nagisa, Sugino and Okuda. As they made their way to their chosen route, Teresa felt a chill run down her spine. Her gut feeling was usually never wrong, and now it's telling her that there was going to be a chaotic turn of events soon...

* * *

 **Well, hope you liked it! Please leave a review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	9. School Trip Part I, Disaster in Kyoto

**Hello.**

 **Please don't kill me for this super late update, as:**

 **1\. I had zero motivation to write for quite some time**

 **2\. I had a practical test**

 **3\. Exams are coming up (so I probably won't be updating this story after chapter 10 for about two weeks(?))**

 **Buuuut, I am almost done with chapter 10, so I think it can be posted within this week (or maybe the beginning of the next). Meanwhile, enjoy this new chapter. For those unaware, I started a new AC fanfiction:** **s/12739623/1/Fate-and-Destiny**

 **Feel free to read! I may be redoing that first chapter, though...**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Assassination Classroom/Ansatsu Kyoushitsu or its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 9: School Trip Part I, Disaster in Kyoto

Nagisa and the group observed their surroundings as they strolled past the streets of Kyoto. Teresa had been there only once for an assassination mission, so she hadn't noticed, but Kyoto was really a beautiful place. She took the opportunity to admire the architectural designs of each and every building, a mix of modern and traditional looking buildings all in one place.

"Since we're here in Kyoto and all, I wanna try their green-tea warabimochi dumplings!" Kayano exclaimed, to which Okuda gave an unexpected suggestion. "Then why don't we put some poison in them?"

"Why?! What for?" Kayano exclaimed, as she reeled back in alarm. "Korosensei has a major sweet tooth, after all."

Karma chuckled as he voiced his agreement, "That's a great idea: poison him with famous local treats!" Haring this, Kayano turned to face Karma, a devastated look on her face. "That's such a waste of perfectly good dumplings!"

"If only there _was_ a poison that actually works on Korosensei..." Kanzaki suddenly stated, causing the group to quieten down in realisation at the truth of her words. They all knew, courtesy of Okuda's assassination attempt, that poisons that usually works on humans didn't have an effect on him.

"Y'know, ever since we've set foot onto Kyoto, I've wanted to forget all about the assassination. I mean, look at all these great scenaries. It looks a like a place completely unrelated to assassinations or anything of the sort," Sugino beamed while looking around, hands behind his head. Nagisa shook his head at that. "You'd be surprised. It's actually quite the opposite, Sugino."

Soon, they stopped in front of a small block, with a pillar that had words engraved into it. Okuda bent over to reach eye level with the words and slowly read them out. "Sakamoto...Ryouma...wait, is this-?"

"Ah! This is the site where the old 'Omiya' was, the inn where, in 1867, Sakamoto Ryouma was assassinated!" Karma's face lit up in realisation, to which Nagisa nodded, indicating he was right. "That's correct. And if you walk further down, you'll see the Honnou-ji Temple, although its position has changed slightly from back then."

"Oh, that's right. Nobunaga Oda's death happened there, in 1582. It resembled that of an assassination."

"In a mere distance of about 1 km, some assassinations of big-names have occurred here. If you include the not so well-known assassinations, there might be far too many to count," Nagisa stated. Teresa let out a chuckle. This city has always been the heart of Japan, yet, little did most know, it is also the mecca of assassination.

"I get it. Now that you're mentioning all this, this place really seems like the perfect assassination spot. Not to mention this is turning out to be a real assassination trip," Sugino drawled. They continued walking towards the direction of Kanzaki's chosen assassination spot, but not without stopping at several places. "Next is the Yasaka shrine!"

"Oh, c'mon, enough already. Let's rest. I wanna drink Kyoto's sugary-sweet coffee," Karma lazily countered, before blinking in surprise at the paper cup that appeared before him. Teresa offered a sweet smile as she handed the cup to him. "Here you go." The group turned to look at her. She hadn't been interacting much with them during their little detour, so they nearly forgot that she was there, but now that they were looking at her, they gawked at the sweets, snacks and the seven cups of sugary-sweet coffee she was miraculously able to hold in her arms and hands.

Sugino pointed a trembling finger at her, which resulted her in raising a brow, and stuttered out, "W-Where...when...how did you-?" Teresa nibbled on a chip before replying him. "While I was following you guys from behind, a group of young girls gave me the sweets, a couple of teenaged boys handed me the snacks, and a middle-aged man, who was giving out samples of his shop's sugary-sweet coffee, offered some."

"But, why you? You were clearly walking with us, but they didn't offer us anything?" Nagisa asked, clearly confused out of his mind. Teresa wore a blank expression as she shrugged. She herself wasn't sure why they gave her all these in the first place. "Who knows? All I did was walk past them."

"More importantly, can we have some?" Kayano asked, drooling a little as she very obviously eyed the sweets, causing Teresa giggle slightly at her reaction. "Of course! I took enough for the group, as you can see!"

She held up the six cups as indication, allowing the rest to take a cup each, seeing as Karma already took one. After distributing the goods, they made their way to the chosen assassination spot. Sensing someone's gaze on them, Teresa turned around briefly. She frowned slightly, as this gaze was not the same as the one she had felt at the train station, but it clearly held sinister motives. Not noticing anyone out of the ordinary, she quickly turned back and caught up with the rest of the group.

Upon arriving, everyone marvelled at its lifelessness, a complete opposite to the streets they were walking on earlier. "Wow, when you go deep into the Gion district, it is practically deserted. There's absolutely no one here." Kayano commented, voicing everyone's thoughts.

"Yup. Since it is made up of shops that turn away most first-time customers, no one really comes here just to aimlessly wander around, and you don't need a nice unobstructed view to work around passers-by. That's why I put it on my ideal course: it's perfect for an assassination, isn't it?" Kanzaki summed up.

"Yeah, perfect for assassinating...and for abducting, gang-raping, street fighting, thefting…" Teresa muttered under her breath, trailing off dryly as she looked around. Seriously, this place just gave off bad vibes. She wouldn't be surprised if some big-shot got assassinated here before with no one the wiser. This place looked like the perfect criminal hangout spot, she was amazed Kanzaki, of all people, could find a place like this. The first time she saw Kanzaki's documented information, she could see something dark about her, along with every class E student. Hers in particular, seemed to be caused by her parents. Perhaps stressed by their expectations. She really hoped Kanzaki wasn't in some shady shit, or…

Or what? Teresa blinked in surprise at her momentary concern for Kanzaki. Since when did she start caring about these people? She was only here for the mission, nothing more, nothing less. Yet, she could tell, she was slowly changing. She gritted her teeth behind sealed lips in annoyance. She couldn't afford to have a change of heart now. Not when she promised herself-

"As expected of our Kanzaki-san! Your preparations are perfect! Then I guess we'll do the deed here!" Kayano exclaimed, never missing a bat to praise Kanzaki, who blushed slightly with a shy smile, causing Teresa to snap out of her thoughts. Now that she wasn't caught up in her own emotions, she heard footsteps a distance ahead of them. Looking up, she saw a group of high school students, wearing the same uniform as those who bumped into the girls on the train, approaching them. "This really is 'perfect'."

Hearing the big-nosed one speak, the group finally stopped looking around and faced front, noticing the bunch in front of them. With a sleazy grin, he continued to speak, "now why on earth would you kids be walkin' around in a joint like this that's ripe for a kidnappin'?"

Hearing footsteps behind them, the group turned around and saw more of these goons. The obvious mastermind had a shit-eating grin on his face, which somewhat made Teresa a little more pissed off than she should've been. Not to mention it's the same guy that Kanzaki bumped into. An uncomfortable scowl appeared on her lips.

So this was the sense of foreboding she had earlier.

She decided to wait and see how things would turn out. She watched as Karma stepped to the front of the group, standing before the big-nosed guy with the crew cut, with an eerily calm smile. It appeared as though he was calm, but any trained assassin could see, or feel, the faint waves of bloodlust he emitted. "What's up, misters? Something tells me you fellows aren't here for sightseeing."

"We ain't here for you gents. Leave the women here and get lo-" Apparently, Karma had just about enough of this guy acting all high and mighty and decided to knock him off his high horse, as he launched his palm underneath his neck, effectively causing the poor guy to bite his tongue till it bled. Karma then continued to grab him by the face, while plunging his fingers into his eyes, and forcibly crashed his skull against a metal pole, which just so happened to be behind them. Everyone could practically hear the metal pole reverberating from the impact, and watched as the poor dude slumped to the ground, grasping his face and groaning in pain.

"See, Nagisa-kun? If there aren't any witnesses, fighting's no problem at all," Karma said, smiling brightly at Nagisa, as if he didn't just smash someone's skull like it was an everyday thing. Well, then again, knowing Karma, it probably was. Already predicting how this would turn out, Teresa weighed her options. Join them to fight these high schoolers off, wait until the others are knocked out then fight the high schoolers off, or hide herself with another girl.

Deciding that the last was the best course of action, as it wouldn't expose the extent of her physical capabilities, using the moment they had their attention directed towards Karma, she turned around and quickly grabbed Okuda's arm, before dashing off to hide around the corner. She then heard Okuda protest in a low voice, "Teresa-san, what about the others? We can't just leave them there-"

"Do you want to go over there and let yourself get caught?" At the mention of getting kidnapped, Okuda visibly paled, before giving a resigned shake of her head, lowering her gaze. "I want to help them as much as you do, and the best way around that is to not get caught. Once it is all over, we'll go over to assist them. But for now, we must stay low."

"I-I understand…" Okuda stammered, tears pooling at her eyes. Sighing, Teresa gave her a small pat on the back, and offered a smile. "Don't worry. We'll definitely find a way to resolve this."

* * *

When she decided the fight was over, the two of them stepped out and saw the guys sprawled on the ground, and no sign of Kayano and Kanzaki. Teresa furrowed her brows slightly, before kneeling down and pulling Karma into an upright position against the wall. Okuda raised a brow at her actions. "Teresa-san?"

"Let's treat their wounds first. Help me get Nagisa over here. I'll get Sugino." Nodding in understanding both girls finally brought the boys together. Unzipping her hand carry, Teresa pulled out a mini first-aid kit, at which Okuda gaped slightly, and took out ointment for bruises and scars, as well as bandage, and began tending to their wounds.

For Nagisa, there was a graze, as well as a glaring bruise, on his cheek. Seeing there was no other injuries, Teresa shook her head, seeing as it was clear that Nagisa passed out from a mere punch. His jawline wasn't even affected. For Sugino, there was a rather large bruise forming on his abdomen. He must've been kneed in the stomach earlier. He was lucky though, he didn't have any contusions. And as for Karma…

He appeared to have had the worst out of the three. He wasn't bleeding anywhere, but sported multiple visible bruises all over his body. Lifting up his shirt, she immediately noticed that there were even a few on his back. It was a miracle nothing was broken. As she rubbed ointment on his bruises, she watched his face flinch in pain as she applied pressure to some of the bruises, especially those near his spine. Guilt washed over her as she continued tending to his bruises. She could've helped, get rid of those high schoolers and prevent her classmates from receiving all this pain, but instead she chose to hide, for the sake of keeping her identity hidden, and effectively put them in harm's way.

She decided she'd deal with these dueling emotions later. For now…

She jolted as she felt Karma stir awake, and noticed the other two beginning to regain consciousness. Apparently she wasn't the only one, as she heard Okuda gasp and exclaim, " Nagisa-kun! Sugino-kun! Are you two alright?"

Nagisa slowly pushed himself of the floor and looked around. Sugino was clutching his stomach, grimacing in pain with his eyes screwed shut. Seeing Teresa and Okuda with them, he let out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you two are safe, Teresa-san, Okuda-san."

"I'm so sorry, we immediately ran and hid ourselves," Okuda apologised, a pained expression on her face.

"No, you two did the right thing." Karma slowly got up and rubbed the back of his head. He must've been hit with a metal pipe. "They covered up the license plate number of the van they were using. I'm also betting that they stole that van, plus it's a common model you can find anywhere, which makes it harder for us to trace them. They're experienced in committing crimes, so even if we reported them, it won't be over that quickly. That being said…"

He slowly raised his head to reveal the devilish glower on his face, clearly pissed off by the fact that he got beaten up. "I'd like to personally deal with them," he said in a low, dangerous tone. Everyone wore uncomfortable smiles at that.

"But...how are we going to find them?" Sugino questioned. They remained silent for a while, before Teresa spoke up. "Nagisa-san, do you have the guide book Korosensei made?"

"Eh? Uh, yeah. Even though we had our itinerary planned, I thought it'd be best if at least one of us brought it. Why?"

"Turn to page 1,243. I'm pretty sure that page had something on what to do when a group member has been abducted," Teresa stated, keeping the first aid kit before realising it was eerily silent. Looking up, she found them staring at her incredulously. "What? Before we came for this trip, I read through the guide book and memorised those pages I deemed important, which is a small minority of the book. Trust me, Korosensei put a lot more unnecessary than necessary stuff in there, it's almost ridiculous." She replied, giving an awkward smile and an eye-roll at the end.

"I can imagine…" Nagisa trailed off, as he began flipping through the book, which had fallen out of his bag during the brawl. Soon, he reached the designated page, and saw detailed descriptions and step-by-step instructions on what to do. Korosensei even took the liberty to include a drawing of a person being abducted. Sugino was the first to comment. "What kind of guide book has that kind of eventuality? Normally, you'd never see a guide book take a hypothetical situation this far!"

"Well, Korosensei is incredibly thorough and diligent. He's got anything and everything written in here," Nagisa replied, before resuming to recite sme of the titles he saw. "Like 'How to recover from the shock of seeing souvenirs you bought in Kyoto being sold in a Tokyo department store'."

"Just how far is he going with these hypothetical situations?"

"And 'How to comfort your lonely self when seeing couple flirting by the Kamo River'..."

"That's none of his business!" Sugino exclaimed, as everyone chuckled slightly. A relieved smile appeared on Nagisa's face, with a determined gleam in his eyes. "However, thanks to that, we've calmed down a bit. Everything we need to do now is spelled out for us right here. With this, we should be alright. Let's go save Kayano and Kanzaki-san."

"By the way, Karma-san, I have something interesting to tell you." Karma turned to face Teresa with an amused smile and asked, "Oh? Do tell."

"I just remembered. That uniform, it's the same one worn by those who assaulted me that night we first met in the alleyway. Although they aren't the same people, they might be accomplices." Karma stared at her for a moment, before letting out a laugh. "Those guys just got a lot more than they bargained coming their way."

"Got that right." Nagisa, Sugino and Okuda warily glanced at the two, they could practically could see the dark and ominous aura surrounding the two. They, for one, did not one to know what they had in mind.

* * *

Kayano and Kanzaki slowly stirred awake, finding themselves on a couch, in what appeared to be an abandoned building. Looking up, they saw the high schoolers from earlier, plus a few more, surrounding them, sleazy grins donning their scarred faces as they cackled. Uneasy looks crossed both girls' faces they stared warily at their abductors. Seeing their victims finally waking up, the ringleader smirked widely before speaking up.

"Make as much noise as you want. Even if you scream and cry here, no one will hear you, let alone come here. If we're gonna play, then it's best to have a big audience. As they say, 'the more, the merrier', right? So, we're calling up our buddies over. They're gonna help set up and get everything ready for a little commeration photo. Let's have a real good time, messing shit up." Kayano and Kanzaki involuntarily shivered, not daring to let their minds wander to think of what kind of humiliation these hooligans were planning to put them into. The two girls exchanged anxious looks before looking back at the ringleader who stepped forward towards them, Kanzaki in particular.

"I thought I'd seen you somewhere before." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and opened it, and after pressing a few buttons, he turned to face the screen towards them. "This is you, isn't it? At a Tokyo arcade last summer?"

As both girls' eyes met the photo, they had very different reactions. Kayano was beyond shocked by what she was looking at. Kanzaki was, without a doubt, also shocked, but was more in despair than anything else as she stared at the screen, unpleasant memories flooding into her mind.

On the screen was a photo of Kanzaki herself. But not the neat and proper lad-like girl they knew. Oh no. In the photo, she had her hair permed, with the ends of her hair dyed a dirty blond. She was clad in a sleeveless, purple top, with an image of a skull and the words 'LOVE KILLS' on it, a pair of blood red denim shorts with a chain of metal links attached to the side, a chain necklace hanging around her neck, studded bracelets around her thin wrists, a bulky-looking ring on the fourth finger of her right hand, as she held a glass bottle of what appeared to be beer. But the thing that surprised Kayano the most, was the fierce and sour expression on the face of the Kanzaki in the picture. It was the complete opposite of the gentle, mild-mannered Kanzaki she knew.

To say she was speechless was an understatement. Sparing a glance towards her friend, she noticed the pained and despair-filled look on her face, as she looked at her old self.

"I had planned to kidnap you back then, but you slipped right through my fingers., so this opportunity was too good to pass up. Who'd have thought you'd be a student at that famous school, Kunugigaoka. But hey, I totally understand. The higher up people are, the deeper they tend to want to fall." At this, he moved the phone away and brought his face right in front of hers, causing her to snap out of her dark thoughts and jolt in surprise. "In some ways, they want to be ruined. But it ain't anything to be ashamed of. Screwing things up is fun, y'know? From now until nightfall, the ruination teacher here will teach you absolutely everything, and show you how much lower you can go."

As his words finally sunk in, Kanzaki let out a low, resigned sigh as she averted her eyes towards the ground, brows furrowed, forming a crease in her forehead, seemingly on the verge of crying.

'That's...not true at all,' she thought to herself. As their perpetrators went around exploring their temporary hideout, Kayano took it upon herself to get Kanzaki to open up and talk about it, if it would make her feel a little better. Even if it was just a little. "You know, that picture from before was...a bit surprising. So even the diligent and serious Kanzaki-chan went through a phase like that too, huh? Honestly speaking, I didn't see that coming." Kanzaki flashed a sad smile.

"...Yeah. My father was really strict. He was hellbent on me getting a good academic background and a prestigious position at work. I wanted to get away from that sort of lifestyle of constantly being ruled by prestige, wanted to strip myself of my family name, wanted to leave my elite school's uniform behind. So I changed my appearance and hung out at places where no one knew me and so that I could play around freely." As she continued, a shadow loomed over her eyes, as she quite obviously drifted back into that dark, dark corner of her mind. "I'm such an idiot, aren't I? Thanks to all that playing around, the only position I got was a seat in the 'E-as-in-End' class."

After a short pause, Kanaki finally confessed. "...I don't even know where I belong anymore." A sense of helpless came over Kayano as she watched Kanzaki sink deeper into her despair. To think that Kanzaki, of all people, was constantly fighting such a battle within her, was definitely a shocking turn of events for the green-haired girl. Despite their situation, Kayano wanted to comfort Kanzaki, but couldn't think of the words she needed to hear. "How 'bout hanging with us and becoming our comrade?"

Hearing his voice, both girls turned to face the ringleader, who had lowered himself into a squat, watching them with a shit-eating grin. "We don't give a shit about prestige here. We mess up the people who act like their so elite and drag them down to everyone else's level, or even lower. For a salaryman in a nice suit, use a woman and accuse him of molestation, for a seemingly successful and powerful woman, kidnap her just like this and engrave wounds that will never disappear into both her heart and body. Oh yeah, we've done plenty of that kinda stuff."

His tone as he spoke and that prideful expression on his face was more than enough to tell both girls just how proud he was himself of for being able to ruin people's lives like they were little things and just a form of entertainment. Kanzaki flinched a little, grimacing slightly at his crude and crass self, while Kayano, on the other hand, had an uncharacteristically cold look in her eyes, filled with a burning anger and hatred, a shadow looming over her eyes as she looked away from them, as if the very sight of them burned her eyes, and muttered in a low voice. "...You're the worst."

Apparently her words hit a landmine, as the ringleader's grin morphed into a scowl, before he, without warning, grabbed her by her neck and raised her up, tightening his grip around her neck as she kicked her legs in a failed attempt to kick him as she fought to breathe. "What's the deal, looking down on us like you're some kinda elitist, huh? We'll drag you right down to our level!"

Throwing Kayano against the couch, said girl coughed furiously, clearly trying to regain her strength, while Kanzaki sat frozen on the ground, staring at her green-haired friend with fearful concern. "When you return to your hotel, you'll act all nonchalant and say, like, 'we were just having fun singin' karaoke'. If you do, no one would get hurt." It didn't require intelligence of a genius to detect the underlying threat in his words.

"Let's play together again once we return to Tokyo, all while looking at the commemorative photos of our fun school trip…" As he trailed off, the sound of a door creaking open echoed throughout the room, catching everyone's attention. The ringleader turned his head slightly to face towards the door. "Oh, there they are. Our photographers have finally arr-"

He paused mid-sentence as he took in the sight of the bashed-up and bruised face of his comrade, who appeared to be barely clinging onto his consciousness, before being thrown to the ground by the hand that had been holding him up by the back of his collar. "W-What the-"

"School trip guide book, page 1,243: 'What to do when a group member has been abducted?' If you have no leads on the perpetrator, begin by using their accent, discussion topics, etc, in order to figure out if they are locals within the area. If they aren't locals and are moreover wearing school uniforms, turn to see page 1,344. You may be up against students on a school trip, and they must be a group who constantly stirs up trouble." Nagisa narrated, stepping forward with Karma and Sugino on his respective sides, and Okuda and Teresa standing behind him. Kayano and Kanzaki visibly brightened and perked up upon their group's arrival. "Guys!"

"You bastards! H-How the hell did you know where we were?!" As if to reply him, Nagisa continued narrating. "As they would be unfamiliar with the area, they lack a home ground advantage and won't travel far after the abduction. They would surely choose a secluded spot earby, yet away from prying eyes. In such a situation, see page 134 of the appendix."

Nagisa then turned to said page and showed it to the high schoolers. "Sensei's bird's-eye-view map of common abductor hideouts created beforehand at Mach 20 may prove to be a useful countermeasure against kidnappers in hiding." At that, every one of them high schoolers were stunned, dumbfounded, as they watched in shocked silence.

"That school trip guide book is incredible! It's the perfect way to foil an abduction!" Sugino exclaimed, marvelling at Korosensei's never-ending streak of accuracy, while Karma simply chuckled. "Wow, I guess carrying one around paid off after all."

"What the hell kinda guide book is that?!" The high schoolers exclaimed in unanimous agreement and bewilderment. Teresa studied them one by one and recognised a few of them, especially that drunkard from that one time. She silently tugged on Karma's sleeve and discreetly pointed them out to him, causing him to smirk widely. "Give them hell."

"Will do, Queen." He whispered in reply, before stepping forward, both hands in his pockets. "So, what'll you do now, gents? I mean, seeing as how you went this far, I'll be more than happy to take you all on a guided tour…" He slowly raised his head, revealing his golden irises, which seemingly glowed dimly with bloodlust, in the shadow cast over his eyes, and the devilish smirk on his lips.

"...straight to the hospital." Despite how terrifying he appeared, and she would have been afraid if she wasn't an assassin who faced more terrors than any normal person is able to handle, she couldn't stop her heartbeat from becoming erratic as she felt warmth pool in her cheeks. What was with her? First Gakushuu, now Karma. Is it simply because she was growing up that was beginning to mess with her hormones and making her boy-crazy, or she was just overthinking?

...Definitely overthinking.

Her thoughts were cut off by the sound of shuffling coming from the door behind them. All of them turned around to face whoever it was, as the ringleader smirked triumphantly. "Hmph! You junior-high brats sure think you're all cool and tough shit. Those are the buddies we called earlier. Good little kiddies like you lot have never seen badass punks like them bef-"

What greeted them wasn't exactly what he described, or what they were expecting. A whole bunch of males, who were clearly gangsters from their physical stature, with ridiculously neat crew-cuts and spiral-lensed glasses. If it weren't for the scars on their faces, they would've thought those were a bunch of nerds. "Like...them...whaaat?!"

"Ain't no badass punks here. Sensei has taken care of them all." Korosensei said, before releasing his tentacles from around the necks of said punks, causing them to lifelessly fall on the ground. "Korosensei!" Nagisa called out in excitement and relief.

"Forgive me for my tardiness. I was doing a thorough investigation of the other areas, to ensure the safety of the rest of your classmates." As they studied their homeroom teacher, Nagisa sweatdropped as he noticed something extra. "And, uh, what's with that stagehand-like face covering? Why are you hiding your face?"

The triumphant smirk morphed into a sheepish smile. "...I had to resort to violence. I can't have you students remembering my face as that of a violent teacher."

 _Korosensei's Weakness (10): Worried about keeping up appearances_

"Since Nagisa-kun, fortunately, had a copy of the guide book with him, he was able contact me, and I was able to get to you quickly." Then, at Mach speed, he handed Sugino, Teresa, Karma and Okuda each a book. "All of you should take this opportunity to carry one."

Finally snapping back to his senses, the ringleader exclaimed, "This is your teacher? Quit screwing around! What kinda joker does this asshole think he is, looking down on us?!" With that, every one of them lounged forward, ready to strike. Too bad for them, their opponent was a Mach 20 octopus.

"'Quit screwing around', you say?" At that, Teresa's eyes managed to keep up with his tentacles as they whipped out to, rather forcefully, smack their heads to the side. She then noticed, for the first time, Korosensei's face turned pitch black. She heard from Nagisa that it had happened once before, after the stunt Terasaka pulled, but she had to admit, it was rather terrifying. Like a face right out of those zombie movies she's watched with Edward before. "That's my line. Touching my students with those filthy hands and speed equal to that of a grounded fly, and you expect to hit me? Don't make me laugh!"

It seemed as though his words struck a nerve, because at that, the ringleader stood up once more, picking up the glass bottle he dropped as he snarled at Korosensei, signalling the rest to surround the octopus. "So, elite schools also have elite teachers, huh?! Looking down on us from your high horse, aren't you? Thinking we're some dumbass high school students!"

"...We're not elite." With that, he shot out a pair of tentacles that put two of the approaching high schoolers in an unconscious state. "It is true that they are from a famous and prestigious school. But these students are considered the school pariahs. The mere name of their class is the target of discrimination." Wrapping his tentacles around the necks of another two high schoolers, he smashed their heads together, effectively knocking them out.

"And yet, they face all these things they've encountered with a positive outlook on life." The ringleader, having heard quite enough, launched his knife at Korosensei, who easily caught it. "They'd never drag others through the mud with them, unlike you lot." With that, he flung the ringleader high into the air, causing him to fall to the ground on his back with a loud thump. Teresa took this opportunity to rush over to the girls' side, of which Kanzaki was listening intently to Korosensei's every word, seeming to find the comfort she had needed all her life.

"In the end, school and social status mean nothing. Whether a fish lives in a clear stream or a water ditch, as long as it continues swimming forward, it will grow up beautifully. Now then, my students, let's take care of these hooligans, shall we? We'll teach them a lesson on the danger of school trips...into their bodies." With that, Nagisa, Karma, Sugino and Okuda snuck behind the remaining four and crashed their guidebooks into the back of their heads. With that, they all fell to the ground lifelessly. Teresa quickly undid the binds on both girls' wrists, all the while listening. Her eyes dulled slightly as a certain memory resurfaced.

* * *

" _Are you sure you want to do this? Once you start, there's no turning back."_

" _...I'm sure. I don't make decisions I'll regret. I'm prepared to face the risks of being an assassin. I have no other way out anyways."_

" _Very well then. If you believe this is the right direction on your path…"_

* * *

'...Could I be wrong? Am I walking along the wrong direction?' She thought to herself, as she watched the girls' cheerful expressions as they got reunited with the rest of the group. Noticing her neutral expression and her distant self, Karma approached her with a smile. "Something wrong, Teresa-chan?"

She snapped out of her thoughts and flashed a sweet smile in return. "No, nothing is wrong! I was just relieved that nothing bad happened to Kanzaki-san and Kayano-san. When I thought about what could've happened if Korosensei wasn't around, I got rather worried. Now that everything's over, I'm not worried anymore!"

"I see. Let's go over to everyone else then." Nodding in agreement, the two made their way towards the rest of the group. Watching her back from behind, Karma frowned slightly. He knew, she had lied to him. She clearly wasn't thinking about them, as far as he was concerned. She seemed to be dwelling on something else, something he, or anyone else for that matter, didn't know about. He believed it wasn't so much an act of betrayal, but more of a personal problem.

As they stepped outside, Sugino let out a loud sigh of relief. "Man, for a while there, I didn't know _what_ was gonna happen."

"Well, if it had been just them and me, I'm sure it would've worked out well in my favour," Karma stated in that ever-nonchalant tone of his, causing Sugino to turn and face him with an uneasy look. "Quit saying scary things!" At that, Okuda and Nagisa exchanged nervous laughs. Knowing Karma, he may really have been fine on his own, but at the same time, the very thought was risky. Kanzaki began fixing her tie, as Kayano let out a sigh. "Thank goodness nothing happened. Are you feeling alright, Kanzaki-san?"

"Eh? Why yes, of course." Hearing her surprised tone, Korosensei also turned to face her. "Did something happen, Kanzaki-san?"

"Eh?"

"No one would blame you for being shaken after suffering a terrible calamity, yet somehow, it seems to be the exact opposite. From your expression, it's as if a weight has been lifted off your shoulders."

"That's exactly right, Korosensei! Thank you." As she said these words, she gave her usual smile, but know, rather than a mask that hid the owner's sorrows and anguish, compared to before, it was much more genuine. Korosensei's smile brightened visibly as he replied. "It was nothing. Nurufufufufufu! Well then, shall we continue our trip?"

"Yes!" With that, they made their way back to their inn, with Karma attempting to stab Korosensei every step of the way.

* * *

When they arrived, Karma pulled Teresa over to a secluded corner, away from the rest of the class. A devilish smirk surfaced as he looked at her. "Did you get them?"

Teresa signed and held up her handphone, showing him the pictures she took with a small smile. "I'll send them over to you now."

"Thanks, Teresa-chan."

"So, humour me when I ask you this, what do you plan to do to them?"

"Hmm...wasabi bomb in their mail or locker, maybe? Probably even personally paying them a visit and giving them a test of a few of my ghost peppers...but that'd be a waste of my precious resource...might be worth the look of grief on their face!" Teresa shook her head with a smile as she heard Karma dwell on the matter. It was so like him to say that. "Well, when you do whatever you choose, take a video of it, so that we can watch it together sometime and entertain ourselves with their reactions."

"Deal! Man, you really are evil, it's alluring. Where have you been all my life?" Karma said jokingly. She herself knew it was a joke, but when he said those words, an alarmed look appeared on her face, and in that moment, scenes of that day flashed past her mind. She stared at him with wide eyes, trapped in her thoughts, while he stared back, concerned about the sudden change in the mood. "Teresa? What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing," she replied, averting her gaze from him to the ground, swallowing hard as she pushed those memories to the back of her mind, a drop of sweat trailed down from her forehead to her chin. She could practically hear her heartbeat going erratic, much more compared to earlier. "I'll...be going now."

Karma watched her retreating form with an expressionless look on his face. He knew it wasn't nothing, and if he was right, and he usually was, it was that something personal she was facing. Teresa didn't dare to turn around, knowing Karma was watching her. She had noticed how particularly focussed on her he had been today, clearly suspicious about her. No longer about Gakushuu, but herself. She couldn't afford to make him any more suspicious than he already was, not to mention she absolutely couldn't afford to reveal to him her past.

She slid open the door of the girls' room, and found it void of people, excluding Kayano, Kanzaki and Okuda, who were gathering their stuff and getting ready for a bath. Walking past the trio, who were too caught up with their conversation to notice her, she sat down next to her camping bag. As soon as she did, she felt someone's gaze on her, again. The same one she felt back at the train station. Narrowing her eyes, she stared out of the window and looked around. All she saw were the buildings next door and the sea of trees behind. Not to mention it was dark, there was no way she could make out anyone in this darkness. But she could tell from which direction the person was staring from. Kayano's voice then pulled her away from her thoughts.

"Teresa-chan, aren't you going to bathe?" Kayano questioned, catching Teresa's attention. The said girl looked up and gave an uneasy smile. "Yeah, to be honest, I feel a little worn out by today's activities, so I'm going to take a short nap. I'll bathe later, so you girls go on ahead without me."

"Okay…" With that the three girls walked out of the room, sliding the door shut behind them. As they made their way to the bath, they exchanged knowing looks. Kanzaki was the first to speak up. "She's avoiding us, isn't she?"

"I think so too." Kayano agreed. She then turned to face Kanzaki. "Is it because of your past, that you think it's her not knowing where she belongs or not wanting others to know who she really is?" Kanzaki stared at Kayano with wide eyes, before turning away with an apologetic smile.

"Yeah. I've been that way for quite some time, so I would recognise someone going through a similar situation immediately. I, myself, am unsure why she would be that way though," Kanzaki replied. Kayano hummed in response. "Takes one to know one, huh?"

"I-I think," Okuda stammered, gaining the attention of the other two girls, "just like how Korosensei empathised with Kanzaki-san and said the words she needed to hear, Teresa-san needs someone who can understand her and tell her what she needs to know."

"Very true. But how can we empathise with her, let alone comfort her, if she doesn't tell us about herself?"

"Perhaps we need to hear it not from her, but from around her? There's no way one would share their darkest secrets with just anyone. We may all be friends, but we're definitely not close enough to her to invade her privacy." Hearing Kanzaki's point, the other two girls nodded in agreement.

"Then, I hope, when the time comes, we'll know what to say to her."

Back in the room, after the girls left. Teresa whipped out her handphone and started typing down more of Korosensei's weakness into a saved memo. Staring at the list for a while, she then decided to dial Edward.

" _Teresa-sama? What's the matter?"_

"I need you to do something for me. I believe that I'm being tailed by someone. I can't really tell if it is an assassin or just some lame stalker, but I'd like you to send some guys to check it out for me. Make sure to tell them not to engage with them, whoever it may be. I'd rather not risk losing any employees."

" _I understand. I'll have some men investigate this. So...how is it?"_ She raised a brow at that inquisition. "...How's what?"

" _The school trip."_

Teresa rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "Bo~ring. I'd much rather spend the time polishing my skills and planning my assassination than pretend being all buddy-buddy with these people. The only reason I'm putting up with all this is because I need to find out more weakness I can use against him."

" _Really? You don't feel anything else?"_

"Not even a pinch. I want to leave as soon as possible. There's far too many obstacles in my path, and it doesn't help that it's affecting me…" Immediately noticing the sombre tone, Edward decided to change the subject. _"So, should I tell Gid-sama about this? Someone tailing you?"_

"Like I mentioned before, there's no need to tell him anything unless he inquires. He doesn't need to know every detail of my life. If I were to tell him anything, it would be because it's necessary for him to know. Otherwise, he need not know. Nor does he have the right to."

" _Because he isn't your biological father?"_

"Because he never was, and never will be, a father to me. He is my employer, superior and boss, nothing more and nothing less." With that, she hung up the phone and leaned back against the wall, her mind going over that day's events. 'I have to shut my heart away from all feelings, or there wouldn't be any meaning to making that decision ten years ago…'

She unzipped her camp bag and fished out her dagger. Removing its blade from the casing, she twirled it around, flipping it downwards, spinning on the back of her hand, flipping it upwards, repeat. While doing so, she stared out of the window towards the direction where she felt the gaze was strongest. There really were far too many distractions in this mission, it was getting out of hand.

From where he was, he could see her staring right at him. He smirked to himself: there was absolutely no way she could see him, and yet she could tell exactly where he was, just based on gut feeling and instinct. Looks like there wasn't much he would need to teach her when the time came. It still seemed like she had a lot to learn though, like keeping her emotions in check. All in all, he knew she was the one he needed. Chuckling to himself, he jumped off the tree he was on and disappeared into the night.

Hearing the excited chatter and approaching footsteps of the girls returning from their bath, Teresa grabbed her stuff and slipped out of the room, unnoticed, and made her way to the bath. Ensuring there was no one around, she stripped herself of her school uniform and folded it before keeping it away. She grabbed her dagger, along with her toiletries, and began to take her bath.

* * *

Continuation in the next chapter. Please review!

XOXO, anime4life2112


	10. School Trip Part II, Boys and Girls

**A/N: Hello guys, so like, I wanted to update this story yesterday, but was busy studying for my exams. And, I'm leaving for Sweden in four days (immediately after my exams) so my schedules kinda packed (because I'm not returning till the 31st of December) so I may not have time to do the next chapter. No worries though, I've already begun on it, so hopefully by New Years I'll have it done (?) Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classrooms or it's characters. Just the plot.**

* * *

Chapter 10: School Trip Part II, Boys and Girls

Downstairs, where there was a mini arcade, Kanzaki, having been persuaded by Kayano to show off her gaming skills, moved her hands skillfully on the board in a continuous fashion, rapidly pressing buttons and moving the lever in all directions.

"No way. How are you avoiding all that?!" Sugino exclaimed, watching in sheer amazement as the tiny spaceship on the screen avoided the barrage of attacks that came its way, as did Nagisa, Kayano and Okuda. Even Karma, who watched from afar with seemingly mild interest, was amazed by her expertise in gaming. "You're amazing, Kanzaki-san!"

"This is...kind of embarrassing…" Kanzaki chuckled nervously as she continued playing, not even looking at the screen anymore. "So she says as she moved her hands skillfully!"

"Wow! I never knew you were so good at games like this, Kanzaki-san," Okuda exclaimed excitedly, watching her raven-haired friend continue going at it. Kanzaki remained silent for a while before offering a small smile. "I remained silent about it. Even though I can play really well, such things are only considered as frivolity in my family and our school, which is frowned upon."

Kanzaki's dim smile then turned slightly brighter. "But, maybe I've been too concerned with what those around me think. Clothes, hobbies, status… I've been continuously running from it, getting swept away by the crowd, and wound up lacking confidence in myself. But what Korosensei said made me realize: what's important is for the person you are inside to face forward and continue doing their best."

As Kayano sat next to Kanzaki to try out the game, Sugino, Karma and Nagisa decided it was time to go back to their room. On the way they met up with Okajima, and as they went around a corner, Nagisa caught a glimpse of blonde hair entering the male bath.

"Wasn't that…" Nagisa begun.

"Nakamura?" Karma finished, nodding in agreement. They then crept up to her, to find Fuwa next to her. Sugino finally asked, "What are you two up to?"

Both girls whirled around, alarmed, but relaxed when they realised it was just them. Fuwa was the first to react, bringing a finger to her lips. "Shh!"

Nakamura smirked, a mischievous glint in her eyes as she turned to face them. "Isn't it obvious? It's exactly what it looks like. We're peeping!"

Nagisa could only gasp in response. "Peeping?!" Okajima, however, had a very different reason. He pointed a finger to himself and exclaimed, "Isn't that _our_ job?!"

At that, both Nagisa and Sugino gave him a 'what the heck' expression, while Karma simply chuckled, as Nagisa muttered, "I wouldn't say it's anyone's job, or that it's even a job, per say…"

"Can you still say that after seeing this?" Nakamura stated, pushing aside the curtains of the entrance, revealing the inside. Before them, was a very familiar black cloak on a hanger, that was hung up on a nail on the wall, while an equally familiar tie was rolled up neatly, with a small black cap, and a neatly folded blouse. Realization struck the boys as they finally understood where Nakamura and Fuwa were getting at. "If these clothes are hanging here, then their owner must be in the bath. Get our drift? Right now, this is our chance to see what it's like underneath Korosensei's clothes! Does he have a torso in there, or is it tentacles all the way down?"

The boys exchanged looks and seemed to come to an agreement over the matter, following both girls into the male bath, with Nakamura in the lead, her hand in her sleeve, ready to pull out the anti-Korosensei knife she had hidden in there if she saw an opening. "What's the harm, anyways? It could even put us in an advantage in assassinating him."

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this. This has got to be the least sexy act of peeping that exists," Okajima groaned, grudgingly following suit. Nakamura, as silently as humanly possible, slowly slid open the door to the bath tub to reveal…

...a pink Korosensei, in a bubble bath, scrubbing a tentacle with a brush. He even had a shower cap on.

"What are you, a girl?!" Nakamura burst out without thinking, appalled by the scene before her. Korosensei, being Korosensei, remained unfazed as he greeted them, not bothering to stop his administrations. "Ah, good evening, students."

"Why's there a bubble bath?" Sugino asked, and by now, everyone had a deadpan expression, except Karma, who remained neutral in this situation. Nagisa followed up Sugino on the matter. "You're not supposed to add anything into the bath on your own accord."

"This is my mucus. It raises a nice, brisk lather and deep-cleans pores of stubborn dirt," Korosensei replied. "What a useful body," Sugino replied dully. Nakamura seemed to finally regain herself, as she spoke up once more.

"But you've slipped up. We're between you and the exit." Karma suddenly spoke up, cutting her off. "Oi, Nakamura-"

He got ignored as the blonde continued speaking, pulling out the anti-Korosensei knife from inside her sleeve. "When you get out, you'll have to pass us to get to the door. Even if we may not be able to kill you, we will get to see you naked."

"Nakamura, listen-"

"I must object!" At that, Korosensei abruptly stood up, but what surprised them was how the water of the bathtub had solidified around him. "Jellied broth?!" Nakamura exclaimed in surprise.

"Oh dear, I'm starting to feel a tad bit cold. If you would please excuse me." With that, Korosensei jumped and squeezed himself through the gap of the open window behind him, hightailing out of the male bath. After a few silent moments passed by, Karma finally spoke up, "...I was going to tell you that the window was open, Nakamura."

"He got away," Nagisa blandly stated, while Okajima turned to face Nakamura with a deadpan expression. "Nakamura, this whole peeping thing turned out to be completely fruitless."

At that, Nakamura started making whiny noises, clearly frustrated at a failed attempt to find out one of Korosensei's secrets. Nagisa let out a sigh and smiled. "We sure did learn a lot about one another on this trip, but…"

"We don't get any closer to determining Korosensei's true nature," Okajima finished, as the gang began walking out and away from the male toilet, and towards their rooms. As they approached the entrance of the female toilet, Nagisa's head perked up as he blinked multiple times, as if trying to confirm he wasn't dreaming. Noticing his odd behaviour, Karma questioned him on it. "What's wrong, Nagisa-kun?"

"Is there anyone who hasn't bathed yet? I think I heard a hairdryer going on in the female bath…" Nagisa muttered, looking towards the entrance of the female bath. Karma raised a brow and listened carefully. "That's true, I hear it."

"That shouldn't be right. All the girls already bathed, and there is no one else except our class staying in this inn." Fuwa replied, frowning slightly. Hearing this, Okajima had that look on his face. That one that clearly said he was thinking of something indecent. "Maybe it's a really hot babe who decided to stay here!"

Of course not!" Nakamura exclaimed, smacking the back of his head, hard. Crouching down, Okajima clutched the back of his head in pain as Nakamura continued. "Besides, even if there were, don't go having lewd thoughts about peeking or anything along those lines. You're dead if you do, 'cause I'll tell Megu!" Hearing her mention Kataoka's name, Okajima froze and silently nodded obediently.

"Well, just to make sure it isn't an intruder, we should go check it out," Nagisa suggested, and everyone agreed, before following him towards the female bath. As soon as they were at the entrance, Nagisa cautiously and silently slid the curtain to the side to reveal Teresa, who had been in the middle of changing.

* * *

Apparently, she hadn't noticed, or heard, them approaching, since the hairdryer was far too loud for her to distinguish their footsteps. After her hair was dried, she had it tied up in a high bun, which resulted in completely exposing her back. Her lower back and everything else below was covered by her robes, which she was about to put on. Everyone who was watching her would've teased her for being in such an erotic situation. If it weren't for the very visible scars on her back.

Upon hearing the curtains being pushed to the side, Teresa whipped her head around and her eyes widened as she looked at the group that had been staring at her. And for the first time since she came to this school, her eyes were filled with fear as an alarmed expression came over her face. Nagisa stuttered to form a response to her shock. "U-Uh, that is, we…"

Teresa turned away and quickly pulled her robes over her shoulders. As she secured the ribbon

around her waist, she questioned in a low voice, "...Did you see?"

"Y-You mean, the scars on your back?" Sugino stammered, watching as Teresa undid the bun, allowing her hair to fall out of the hairdo gracefully, nearly touching the ground. "Did you see my lower back?"

"No…"

"...I see." She discreetly slipped her dagger between her school uniform, before gathering her stuff in her arms and slowly turned around to face them. "Please forget what you saw, and don't tell anyone else."

She then quickly walked past them, obviously eager to leave and not stay to be questioned. Karma, on the other hand, had other plans, as he immediately turned around and followed suit. The rest eyed them as they disappeared around the corner.

"...Am I the only one who thinks that there's some complicated reason for those scars we saw?" Nagisa finally voiced out after a while, getting a few numb nods from Sugino and Okajima.

"Am I the only one who think there's more going on between those two than meets the eye?" Fuwa questioned, a smirk on her lips. Nakamura's face mirrored Fuwa's, as horns seemingly grew on top of her head. "Nope. You're definitely not the only one. And I know a few troopers." Sinister chuckling began echoing from them, causing the boys to stare at the girls anxiously, sweatdropped.

"You guys…" Nagisa muttered.

* * *

"Teresa-chan!" Karma grabbed her arm, stopping her in her tracks. Teresa swallowed hard, not wanting to face this confrontation right now. That was way too close. It was a miracle they didn't see her lower back, but if they did, she would risk revealing her past and true identity, and, needless to say, she would have to leave and never return. "What were those scars?"

It was a statement, not a question. A demand for an answer. She didn't need to turn around to know, Karma wasn't too pleased to see the scars. Still she refused to turn around, as she meekly replied, "...It's nothing."

"Don't lie! It's definitely not 'nothing'!" Karma actually raised his voice, causing her to flinch - it was clear as day to anyone who can hear, he was furious. He spun her around, coming face to face with the uneasy expression on her face. He gritted his teeth so hard, he wouldn't be surprised if they crumbled under the pressure. Why was he so agitated, he himself didn't know. But there was one thing he knew for sure: he wasn't going forgive whoever it was who did it to her.

"Who did it?" Teresa met his eyes for a brief moment, and in that moment, he could see so many emotions rushing through at once: pain, sadness, devastation, guilt. The next moment, she averted her eyes and bit her bottom lip, her head downcast. The action only further infuriated him, as he tightened his grip on her arms. Teresa barely registered the bruising pain from it as he asked his next question. "Is it your parents?"

He watched, as her head remained downcast, he could make out the slight shake. He knew, she was telling the truth.

"Asano-kun?" Another shake.

"An incident from the past?" He felt her freeze up momentarily, and knew he hit the bullseye. Teresa, on the other hand, was mentally cursing Karma's sharp intuition and intelligence. How was he guessing this closely to the truth?

"I...can't talk about it. Not yet," she began, slowly looking up, an apologetic smile on her lips. Karma calmed down a bit, loosening his grip on her arms, but not letting go. She noticed that, and her eyes dulled slightly with professionally hidden bloodlust, focussed only on running away from this, as a single thought crossed her mind.

'Give him false hope.'

"I'm not ready to tell anyone." _**I won't ever be ready.**_

"I'll tell you when I'm ready." _**I won't ever tell you, or anyone else.**_

"Until then, please...wait for me." _**Don't bother waiting, it won't happen.**_

"...Alright." Karma finally replied, reluctantly removing his hands from her arms, allowing her to reach up to rub the area he was grabbing. Taking note of her actions, he apologised. "Sorry, I kinda lost my head for a moment there."

"It's fine. I...kinda understood why you did that," she muttered in response, before flashing a sweet smile. "I'm kind of thirsty. Wanna follow me to buy a drink? After I leave my stuff in the girls' room."

"Sure." With that, Teresa turned around and rushed to the room, to find the rest of the girls already there. Noticing her enter, Kataoka spoke up. "Teresa-chan, wanna join us?"

"To do what?" Teresa questioned, keeping her toiletries and school uniform into her camping bag, before discreetly slipping the dagger into the waistband of her underwear, not even flinching as the cool metal of the blade touched her stomach. "Girl talk."

Teresa chuckled nervously. She wasn't really interested, and kinda knew Nakamura was planning on questioning her on her relationship with Karma, if that devilish glint in her eyes were anything to go by…

"Sorry, but I made last-minute plans with Karma just now, so…" she trailed off, hoping Kataoka would get her gist, which she thankfully did. "Oh! No worries then, you go have your fun, we'll have ours. Make sure you return before curfew!"

"Sure thing!" With that, she hightailed out of the room before Nakamura could catch her and keep her there. As she stepped out of the door, she jolted in surprise, noticing Karma already standing there. "Ready to go?"

"Yep!" Teresa quickly reverted back to her cheery facade, and happily followed Karma away from the room and to the lift lobby, where the vending machines were. Selecting their drinks, they stood by the window as they sipped from their cans. Karma eyed Teresa, who seemed oblivious to him staring at her. He didn't like not knowing something, after all, it was human nature to be curious about what they don't know.

"By the way, Karma-san," Teresa began, removing her lips from the can she was drinking from, gaining the said red-head's attention, who turned to face her, "have you and Nakamura-san decided how to foil Asano-kun's plans?"

"Yeah, about that, we thought of a few things. How does making him answer incredibly complicated yet meaningless questions, which would devastate him for wasting his time and effort when he finds out, sound?"

Teresa could barely restrain the wide grin that broke across her face, her eyes gleaming with excitement and devilish amusement, impatient to see Gakushuu in devastation, amusing Karma immensely. "Perfect...just perfect."

Karma returned the gesture. "The only problem is coming up with the questions. For that, we did ask Korosensei for his input. We are now waiting for his advice and suggestions. So when we decide to give a question, we will send it to you, so that you can forward it to Asano-kun for him to solve."

"I look forward to it." As soon as those words left her lips, she felt her phone vibrate from inside the pocket of the coat that she was wearing over her robe, which was provided by the inn. Fishing it out, she looked at the screen and blanched. Noticing her reaction, Karma mouthed 'who', to which she simply turned the phone such that the screen was facing him. Looking at it, his brow twitched at the message that was sent to her, by Gakushuu.

"Wow...just, wow. Is he psychic or something?" Teresa mumbled. Karma simply shrugged as he read the text with a neutral expression. The text read: 'Meet me tomorrow at class A's hotel, wait for me at the waiting area in front of the counter at 9.00 pm. Don't be late.'

Karma's brows twitched in annoyance, not at the message, but at the fact that Gakushuu had her number before him. He watched as Teresa turned the screen to face her once more as she scowled at the message and heard her mutter, "Who the heck does he think he is, ordering me around just 'cause he's got blackmail over me…"

"Teresa-chan." Hearing Karma call her, she averted her gaze from her phone and unto him, seeing him hold up his own phone, which was a black iPhone 5, and gave her a coy smile. "You should give me your number, so that I would be able to send you the questions."

"Oh, right. Now that I think about it, I haven't given anyone in the class my contact number yet, have I?" She stated, taking his phone and typing in her number on the number keypad. After saving it, he sent her a text for her to get his number. "Alright, sent."

"Thank you." Saving his number, she proceeded to reply Gakushuu's text with a 'Got it', all the while mentally cursing the strawberry-blonde boy. She really hated it when she wasn't in control of the situation. At least she managed to control her end, but not so much his.

Finishing her drink, she followed Karma to the boys' room, just in time to hear them talking about voting. Teresa then decided to excuse herself, saying she was going to return to the girls' room. After bidding her goodbye, he decided to make himself known, and slid open the door while taking a sip of his drink, catching the attention of every male in the room. Removing the can from his lips, he gave them a laidback smirk as he said, "Oh. Looks like you guys are doing something interesting. Count me in."

"Karma, perfect timing. Is there a girl you like?" Maehara questioned, as Karma received the sheet of paper, with names of girls who were already voted for written on it, and studied it for a moment. Unbeknownst to him, Teresa was lying before and stayed behind to eavesdrop on their conversation, a little curious, despite herself, to know what they were talking about. After a moment's debate, Karma looked up with a thinking expression on his face as replied, "Hmm...Okuda-san, maybe?"

"Wow, saying straight out loud, huh?" Sugaya commented, while Maehara got curious, a mistake on his part, as he asked, "Interesting choice! But why?" He immediately regretted it when he got his answer.

Karma replied with an angelic smile, "I bet she could make some sketchy drugs, or some chloroform, or other dangerous stuff, and that would really widen my variety and field of pranks. I would practically be able to do _anything and everything_." All the boys sweatdropped at the very likely possibility of that, and paled at the thought of the kind of pranks Karma was bound to pull if he does get his hands on mentioned stuff. Maehara was the first to speak up. "That's one match up we can live without." The rest of the boys nodded in agreement, as Karma simply shrugged, both hands up with a smirk.

Teresa, who was secretly listening from outside, chuckled silently, thinking that was so much like Karma, before her smile saddened. Unconsciously, a part of her had wanted Karma to mention her, and she wasn't even sure why. She decided to make her way back to the girls' room, which resulted her in missing the second part of the conversation.

"But really, aside for pranking others, is there really no girl you're interested in? Romantically, that is," Nagisa questioned, and Karma thought about it for a moment, as a certain raven-haired girl appeared in his mind. "Well, if I had to be honest, the one I'm interested in would be...Teresa-chan, maybe?"

All the boys paused upon hearing this new and unexpected information, except Nagisa and Sugino, who seemed to have had a gist of Karma's interest in the said girl. "Wait, so like, you have a crush on her or something?"

"I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a 'crush' on her. Merely intrigued by her, after all, she is truly interesting. She's the first person who's seen me in action and not fear me at all, aside from Nagisa-kun. On our first meeting, what more." Upon hearing this, Isogai jerked up in surprise. "On your first meeting? How exactly did you two meet?"

"She was backed up by a group of high school delinquents in an alleyway. I saved her in the process of beating them up. Thinking back, they were unbelievably weak, they didn't even serve as a warm-up," Karma replied, adding the last part as an afterthought while tapping his chin, causing the rest to sweatdrop at his words. 'Just how strong is he? More importantly…'

"Don't you mean you beat them up in the process of saving her?" Sugaya questioned, and Karma shook his head. "Nope, I meant it exactly as I said."

"So you didn't actually care about saving her?!"

"Not as much as fighting them, if that's what you're asking," Karma stated nonchalantly, to which the boys sighed exasperatedly. "Anyway, back to what I was saying, after I saved her, she wasn't the least bit afraid of me."

"At all?" Maehara spoke up, and Karma nodded in affirmation. "At all."

"If I remember correctly, you told me that she said you saved her although it may not have been your intention, so she didn't see a reason to fear you," Nagisa said. "Yep, that's right."

"I can't tell if she's too trusting of people, or if she's just naïve. Either way, that's what intrigued me," Karma declared, before mentally adding, 'Not to mention she's hiding a really big secret, not completely unrelated to assassination.' Isogai hummed in reply, before picking up the sheet of paper with the votings on it.

"These ratings are to stay amongst us guys, okay?" He stated, bringing a finger to his lips, and Maehara sided him on the matter. "Well, of course."

"I mean, it's not like we want this knowledge getting out and falling into the wrong hands. So, whatever you do, do not let the girls or the teachers find-" Scanning the room, Isogai did a double-take towards the door, that was slightly open, with a smitten pink Korosensei sitting outside silently, peeking through that small gap, causing the rest of his sentence to die in Isogai's throat. Noticing his reaction, the rest of the boys followed suit and had their eyes on Korosensei in frozen fear.

"Evening, students. I see, I see." With that, Korosensei scribbled a few words on a notepad, labelled 'Student Data - Boys (3)', before silently and 'discreetly' sliding the door close once more. The low sound of the wooden door connecting to the other end was heard, and almost as if on cue, all the boys abruptly stood up. With knives and guns in hand.

"HE MEMOED IT DOWN AND SPLIT!"

"KILL HIM!" With that, as if signaled, all the boys filed out of the room in pursuit of Korosensei, who already hightailed out of the way at Mach 20. "Hold it right there, you damned octopus! Going and invading your students' privacy like that!"

"Nurufufufufu! Nabbing data is exactly what my ultra-high speed was made for!"

 _Korosensei's Weakness (12): Loves gossip_

* * *

Around the same time, a very similar conversation was going on in the girls' room.

"Eh? What boys we like?" Kataoka repeated, looking up to Nakamura, who stood before her with a wide smile. "Yeah. That's what girls talk about on these trips. It's fun! The one I really wanted to ask was Teresa-chan, though," Nakamura replied, adding the last part grudgingly.

"Hey, hey, I got one! Karasuma-sensei!" Kurahashi exclaimed enthusiastically, raising a hand in the process. Nakamura gave her a uninterested look and frowned. "Yeah, yeah, we all like Karasuma-sensei. I meant someone in our class."

"Eh?" From her tone and the expression on her face, it seemed Kurahashi didn't like anything in any of the guys in their class. Nakamura turned to the side and thought about it for a second. "Within our class, I guess Isogai and Maehara are alright…"

"Realy? You think so?" Kataoka questioned. "Sure, why not. Unfortunately, Maehara's a bit of a player, but Isogai's the class representative, so doesn't that put him in the lead?"

Yada turned to look at Kataoka. "Karma-kun would be top choice too, on good looks alone."

"That is, if he wasn't like _that_ ," Okano commented, and in that instant, an image of a devil Karma, with horns, a tail and a trident, looking all ominous, appeared in their minds, and they responded simultaneously, "Yeah…"

"Hmm… but to be honest, he's not that scary though," Okuda piped up, causing all the girls' attention to be directed to her, then Kayano, who followed Okuda up on the matter. "Yeah, he's usually pretty quiet."

"What is he, a wild animal?" Hayami questioned monotonously, and in that moment, the door to their room slid open, Turning to see who it was, Nakamura's face broke into a devil's grin as Teresa stepped in. "Here comes someone who can give us her opinion."

"I beg your pardon?" Before Nakamura could continue her assault, Kataoka spoke up, already knowing all the possible replied Nakamura could've given. "Welcome back, Teresa-chan! You're back earlier than I thought."

"Yeah, Karma-san and I were just discussing about how to take care of my problem with Asano-kun over a drink. So, what were you guys talking about that you want my opinion?" Teresa replied, before sending a knowing look towards Nakamura, letting it be known that she hadn't missed Nakamura's words. Kataoka, and a few other girls, mentally facepalmed at how Teresa let herself fall into the trap they tried to save her from mere seconds ago. Nakamura, on the other hand, was on cloud nine.

"Teresa-chan, what's your impression of Karma?" Teresa stared at the blonde before her, before flashing a coy smile. "Are you talking about the Karma, you reap what you sow, or the Karma-san we know?"

"Of course I'm talking about the Karma we know!" Nakamura exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air in an exasperated fashion, while the girls bit back their laughs. Teresa thought about it for a while, before answering truthfully.

"He's a good and kind person within. He may appear extremely violent, beating up people on probably what might be a daily basis, but he never initiates a fight, and wouldn't engage in one without a legitimate reason. And when he does engage in one, it's usually to protect someone, it's just that his over-excessiveness when it comes to fighting makes him appear violent and dangerous, which makes people overlook the reason he fights in the first place, and immediately assume he's in the wrong." The girls were slightly stunned by this new point of view, even Nakamura, who intended to tease her, couldn't help but marvel at how innocent she sounded while pointing out Karma bad points in a good light, as they continued to listen to her.

"While he doesn't initiate fights, he does challenge people a lot, which can't be blamed. We all know how smart and strong he is, and there are very few individuals near our age that would serve as a strong competitor for him. He simply wishes to be able to fight his fullest against someone of the same level and playing field as him, but since he can't, he settles for the small fry he can find, and stirs up their emotions to make them initiate the fights. In other words, he's bored. Which also explains why he likes teasing and taunting people so much. And he isn't dishonest either. If there's something he doesn't want to admit or accept, he either keeps it to himself or expresses it in a highly misunderstandable manner. But, in his heart, he earnestly cares for those who are close to him, and is willing to reach out and protect those who aren't, if required."

Everyone was thrown back, literally and figuratively, by this long speech Teresa gave. They, and probably anyone else who knew Karma, never saw things the way she had. It was almost as if she saw right through Karma's heart and knew the kind of person he truly was, the one they never saw. "Well, he is terrifyingly dangerous by nature!"

At that addition, everyone fell over. Okano was the first to recover as she sent a look Teresa's way. "After all that, you decide to include that one line?!"

"You countered and contradicted your long speech with just one line," Hayami mused, still slightly stunned by her opinion of Karma. Hara then spoke up. "You must be paying very close attention to him to know him so well."

Teresa let out a sound of surprise as she turned to face the chubby brunette with a blank expression. "Not any more than I do to anyone else, though."

"You speak so fondly of him. Are you sure you don't have a crush on him or something?" Nakamura teased, and a pink hue appeared on Teresa's cheeks as she backed away from the blonde, an uneasy smile on her face. "I wouldn't say I have a 'crush' on him...just that I do like and care for him, as a friend."

"If you can see the good in Karma, how about Asano-kun?" Kurahashi asked, and immediately Teresa's face turned sour. "Sorry, Kurahashi-san, but we didn't have too great a start, and amongst the vast information I have on him, there is nothing 'good' in it, other than the fact that he has abnormally strong will and determination to get what he wants. But, if the chairman wasn't the person he is today, Asano-kun would be very different, in terms of character."

"What makes you say that?"

"Just a gut feeling. I don't have any concrete evidence." Teresa replied, before adding in her mind, 'Well, not that my gut feeling has ever been wrong, though.'

"Then," Nakamura began, placing both hands on her shoulders from behind her, "if you had to choose one of the two, who would you pick?"

"...Please tell me you're joking," Teresa muttered, and Nakamura shook her head with a wide grin. "I'm totally serious here."

Without a moment's hesitation, Teresa gave her answer. "I'd choose neither. I'm not interested in ever being in a romantic relationship." Nakamura raised both brows as she removed her hands from Teresa's shoulders. Her tone was light, but Nakamura could tell she was serious.

'Not to mention, assassins refrain from developing any form of romantic feelings for a specific individual, whether or not they are in the same line of work,' Teresa thought to herself.

"What about you, Kanzaki-san?" Kayano asked, catching the said raven-haired girl's attention, who turned to face her with a surprised look. "Me? I don't really have anyone particular in mind…"

"Eh, really?" Kayano asked teasingly, before jumping on Kanzaki, attacking her with tickles on her sides, soon joined by Nakamura. "C'mon, spill! I'll bet the guys are dying to know too! Fess up!"

"I-I'm...serious…" Kanzaki managed to utter between chuckles, as she struggled out of their grasp, tears budding at the corners of her eyes due to laughing too hard. Due to the commotion they caused, the girls failed to notice their platinum blonde teacher slide open the door, holding a pack of canned beer in one hand. "Listen up, brats. I'm here to tell you that it's almost time for lights out, strictly speaking."

"'Strictly speaking'?" Nakamura said, with a 'what's with that' face, to which Irina replied, "It's not like you girls aren't going to stay up all night talking anyways. Just make sure to keep it down, alright?"

As Irina began to close the door and leave, Kurahashi came over, on all fours, and complained in a whiny voice, "How come only you get to drink, Bitch-sensei? That's so unfair!" Irina turned to face her with a haughty expression and replied, "Of course. What did you expect, I'm an adult."

"Ne, Bitch-sensei, why don't you tell us about some of your adult stories from your work?" Yada questioned with earnest curiosity. Kurahashi, who heard Yada's plead, voiced her agreement in a roundabout way. "I wanna hear too! It may prove to be more useful than your usual classes!"

Naturally, her words struck a nerve, as a vein near Irina's temple popped while a livid look came over her, all the while exclaiming, "What'd you say?!"

Sweatdropping, Yada stood up and walked around to Irina's back, gently placing both hands on her shoulders and gave her a light push. "Nevermind that. Come on in."

"Wha-" Irina let out a squeak of protest, before eventually giving in and settling on the ground, with the rest of the girls surrounding her in a circle. Watching her pop open a can and take a big gulp from it, Teresa frowned slightly. "Don't drink too much, Jelavich-sensei, or you'll get a hangover tomorrow. We still have two days till our trip ends."

"I'm well aware, but thank you for your consideration. But seriously, you're the only one who'd call me that. Why don't the rest if you brats learn from her?" Irina groaned, pointing towards Teresa, who simply offered a small smile.

"By the way Bitch-sensei, I was just wondering, how old are you?" Yada asked, to which Irina didn't reply immediately, as she took another gulp from her can, before answering nonchalantly, "Twenty."

"Oh." Silence filled the air for a moment, before everyone exploded. "EHHH?!"

"BITCH-SENSEI, YOU'RE STILL TWENTY?!" Nakamura exclaimed, clearing taken aback by this piece of information, as was everyone else. Teresa, who was already aware of this, remained impassive. "With all your experience, I totally thought you were older," Kataoka commented.

"Right? She also had a whole black widow vibe going on!"

Irina gave a smug smirk as she closed her eyes and replied, "That's right, the sex appeal of a black widow than only a rich life can- wait, who called me a 'black widow'?!" She all but growled at the end, an enraged expression on her face, causing the surrounding girls to sweatdrop.

"A little slow on the comeback there," Nakamura commented, to which Irina paid no mind, as she continued speaking, picking up a senmai-zuke to snack on. "Now listen here, women have a short shelf life. Unlike me, you girls were born in a country that is free from danger, whereby bloodshed isn't seen on a daily basis. Be grateful, don't take it for granted, and use everything in your personnel to make yourselves shine as women."

The girls exchanged looks, unsure of how to react, while Teresa knew, there was a much deeper meaning to Irina's words, and this was her showing her rare care and concern for them, and she felt a warmth in her heart towards Irina. But at the same time, a cold and dark thought came to mind, as her eyes darkened. ' _You don't even know me_.'

"Bitch-sensei actually said something decent and respectable," Okano was the first to comment, a blank look on her face, while Nakamura followed her up, "That's kinda brazen."

"Quit spouting nonsense that makes me look like a fool, you damn brats!"

"T-Then, um...how about you tell us about the men who you've seduced and fallen for you?" Yada suggested in an attempt to change the topic, as well as the slightly heavy atmosphere that was created by Irina's words. Kurahashi raised her hand excitedly, exclaiming, "Ah, I've been interested in that for a while too!"

"Fufufu. Alright then, but this might be a little spicy for children's tastes, so be prepared," Irina said, a flirtatious look on her face. Hearing her words, the girls swallowed thickly, anxious to hear her stories. Teresa, too, was slightly interested - due to the fact that she didn't use seduction for any of her assassination missions, since no one taught her, and was willing to learn from a professional honeypot assassin - but felt a small and barely noticeable gust of wind blew past, and she turned her head to look at the source and gaped, just as Irina began her story-telling. "Now, when I was seventeen...HEY, YOU THERE!"

As she exclaimed, she pointed her finger right in the middle of the girls, Kayano and Hara, who squeaked in surprise and jumped away from the pink Korosensei sitting between them, all dressed up in the same robes everyone else wearing. It took everything in Teresa's power to not show too much of her mixed emotions at Korosensei's sudden appearance. She was used to his speed now, but still nowhere near used to him popping up here and there whenever it pleased him.

"Don't just nonchalantly waltz into our girl talk like that!" Irina all but shouted, slowly rising from her once comfortable position into a stance, ready to leap at Korosensei and launch an attack. Korosensei, with the ever-permanent smile and pink cheeks on his face, replied in a pouty tone, "Aw, don't be like that, Irina-sensei. I, too, am interested in hearing about your grown-up tales and love affairs."

"That's easy for you to say, Korosensei!" Nakamura complained, a furious look on her face. "You never reveal or even speak about your private life and affairs, like, at all!"

"Not to mention, you undoubtedly use that speed of yours on a daily basis to peek into our lives, getting your hands, or tentacles in your case, on anything and everything about us. You invade our personal lives, but you don't even mention your own affairs? That doesn't seem like a fair trade to me," Teresa added calmly, a pout on her face as she watched Korosensei reel back in surprise. Apparently, she and Nakamura weren't the only ones who thought this was unfair. Hinano whined in response, "Yeah, that's just unfair, Korosensei!"

"Don't you have any romantic stories of your own?" Almost all at once, all the girls began pointing fingers at Korosensei and firing him with questions, demanding an answer, to which in response, Korosensei began to appear quite flustered. Teresa, too, was keen about learning more about him. After all, the more she knew, the more of his weaknesses she'll be able to derive. "You're into big breasts, aren't you? You must've had at least a crush or an unrequited love!"

Korosensei stilled for a moment, and the next he was gone. Well, **that** pulled the trigger.

"He ran away! Let's catch him, make him talk, and _then_ we'll kill him!" Irina hollered, pulling out an anti-Korosensei knife from her sleeve, the rest of the girls following suit, each and every one of them a livid look on their faces. Teresa, on the other hand, lazily pulled out a pistol, loaded with anti-Korosensei pellets, and trailed after them. Unexpectedly, she heard the shouts of the boys from the other corridor, and immediately caught on: Korosensei must've been listening on them too.

'What a surprise. An unplanned and unexpected pincer attack,' she thought to herself, as she joined the class in their attempt to kill Korosensei. After Korosensei, miraculously, escaped right from their clutches, Irina began screaming at everyone to search every crook and cranny to find and kill Korosensei. Getting grouped together with Nagisa and Karma, the red-haired teen let out a chuckle. "Looks like it ended up as an assassination, after all."

"Yeah. But where do you think he might have gone to?" Nagisa asked, looking at Karma and Teresa, who exchanged looks. Karma was the first one to speak up, "Well, naturally he would go to places we wouldn't suspect. But this is Korosensei we are talking about, it wouldn't be easy to outsmart him."

"Actually, when you think about it, the places we don't suspect would be the most suspicious. You know, reverse-psychologically speaking," Teresa commented, the two boys nodding their heads in understanding and agreement of her statement. "So, which place would be the least suspicious?"

The three remained silent for a moment as they pondered over it, and almost simultaneously, Teresa snapped her fingers as they exclaimed in unison, "Karasuma-sensei's room!"

They quickly, and quietly, made their way towards Karasuma's room, where he was typing away on a laptop. He did not stop till he heard the door of his room slid open and close, along with a slightly dusty gust of wind. Looking up, he found himself face to face with Korosensei, who was sitting before him, hands on his lap as he stared back. "Phew, that was a close call."

"It's been noisy out there for a while now. What's all that commotion about?" Karasuma questioned. While he fished out a mochi from his sleeve, Korosensei replied, "The students were trying to get me to spill the beans on my love life."

"Love life?"

"My past is positively packed with them, more than these hands and feet could ever count!" He exclaimed, taking a bit out of the mochi. At this point, Nagisa, Karma and Teresa were at the door, listening to the conversation being held within the room. They literally froze when they heard Karasuma's next words.

"Would that be from when you had two of each?" Karma and Nagisa exchanged surprised looks. Two of each? Meaning Korosensei was human, like them? Teresa, who was already knew the answer, remained straight-faced as she continued to observe and listen to her target. The said target's mood had visibly darkened, all of his tentacles were lowered as the usually bright smile on his face dulled. Immediately noticing the change in his once jolly mood, Karasuma decided to drop the matter, knowing it was a touchy subject. "No, I won't go there. You probably don't intend to talk about it."

"...Wise choice, Karasuma-sensei. Even while travelling, it is most uncouth to question about the number of one's limbs," Korosensei muttered. One moment the three of them were peeking in, the next moment they found themselves on the rooftop. Teresa eyes widened when she noticed how the world seemed to stream across her eyes before she noticed where she was. Looking around, she found Karma and Nagisa on her respective sides, looking just as startled as she was, and Karasuma and Korosensei before them. Karasuma, too, looked taken aback, while Korosensei...didn't seem all too happy as he stated, "and it is just as rude to eavesdrop on others."

Nagisa and Teresa swallowed thickly, as they remained seated before their teacher, unsure of how to react. Karma, on the other hand, didn't seem to care as he nonchalantly replied, "While that is true, Korosensei, you are not just our teacher, but also our target. Spying and eavesdropping is just part of the process of obtaining information so that we can kill you."

"I can't deny that, but it still doesn't give you the right to pry," Korosensei said grimly, to which Nagisa raised a brow. "And what gives you the right to pry into ours? You being our teacher isn't a reason, Korosensei."

Teresa voiced her agreement. "That's absolutely right. For you to know almost everything about us, I think it's only fair that we learn about you as well. We deserve that much. What did Karasuma-sensei mean when he said that?"

Korosensei went mute for a moment, and Teresa was worried if she was crossing a boundary, but that thought vanished when she heard his counter, "I'll tell you, if you indulge me on something I'd like to know as well: how did you get those scars on your back?"

At once, three pairs of eyes landed on her. For Karasuma-sensei, it was out of surprise, for he had been unaware of this little fact, while for Nagisa and Karma, it was out of concern and the same curiosity that filled Korosensei.

Her bangs curtained her eyes, as she kept her head down. With each second that passed by, the tension in the air just kept building up, till it became unbearable for Nagisa, who was increasingly concerned about the red-tipped raven. Slowly, she lifted her head, and as she did, a strong gust of wind rushed past, blowing her fringe to the side, revealing both of her eyes for just a brief moment.

Both teacher, who had been staring straight at her, immediately became alarmed upon seeing her eyes. For Karasuma, who was a professional, he couldn't restrain the need to be on guard when his eyes made contact with hers. For that brief moment, he felt intense and sharpened bloodlust, it was almost on that of a professional assassin.

Even Korosensei was unnerved. Her eyes, despite being shadowed, were glowing with said bloodlust that put them on edge. Karma and Nagisa, despite not being able to see, felt her bloodlust and tensed up.

As soon as it came, when her left eye was covered by her fringe once more, that bloodlust they felt disappeared without a trace, almost as if it never existed to begin with, as she flashed an angelic smile. When she did, almost instantly, everyone visible relaxed.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that. Looks like we agree that we both have something we absolutely can't tell anyone else, now, don't we?" she stated, a serene look on her face. With that, she slowly rose from her sitting position and jumped, flipping in the air once before safely landing on the ground. She left the gentlemen on the rooftop gawking at her calm self, like she didn't just jump off the freaking roof.

"...Should we be wary of her?" Karasuma questioned Korosensei in a low voice, after Karma and Nagisa were sent back into the inn, to which Korosensei shook his head. "She isn't a threat to any of the students, she just has hidden and unpolished potential. Potential I intend to make use of for this assassination classroom. However, I am concerned about the story behind those scars."

"...Likewise," Karasuma agreed, showing a rare moment of his concern for his students. Korosensei chuckled upon hearing that. "Going soft, aren't you, Karasuma-sensei?"

"Silence!" With that, he swiped out a anti-Korosensei knife and swung it at Korosensei, who easily slipped out of the way, laughing all the while.

* * *

Walking around to the back, she jumped in surprise when she spotted an ominous figure balled up in the shadows. She stepped towards it and upon closing in, she realised…

"Hazama-san?" Hearing her name, the said girl slowly looked towards Teresa, and left out a silent sigh. "Oh, it's just you."

"What are you doing here?" As she asked, she walked over and settled next to Hazama, who stared at her in what appeared to be shock and mild amusement, before turning away. "I like dark and gloomy places. I enjoy being surrounded by darkness."

She noticed the dull look in Hazama's eyes, and decided not the question about it, knowing that her mind was on the verge of wandering into a very dark place. "I...see."

"You probably think I'm weird and a creep who likes spooky shit, don't you?" Hazama had expected to get shot down. She was expecting a judgemental tone, spiteful words and hurtful thoughts coming her way. But…

"No...I kinda understand…"

...she wasn't expecting understanding and empathy. "Eh?"

"Well, it might not seem that way, but I like being in darkness too." To say Hazama was dumbfounded was an understatement. This girl had been so sweet and pure, when she first met their class, when she had transferred, basically all the time. And now she was saying she liked darkness? That just went against everything she knew.

Sure, she had her dark moments, like how she grilled down Terasaka on her first day as a student of the E class, but like Nakamura had said, he had it coming.

"Sometimes, it's better to be surrounded by darkness than light. In the darkness, you can't see anything that scares you, so there is nothing to fear. And sometimes, being able to see your problems can be scarier than not being able to see them. I guess, in a way, darkness brings comfort and security?" Teresa said, looking up into the sky. It was a beautiful midnight blue, decorated by dozens of stars that shone beautifully, and Hazama noticed the anguished yet longing look in her eyes, and raised a brow. So even a princess like her has experienced pain and grief?

Not hearing a response, Teresa turned to the side to find Hazama staring at her incredulously. Cheeks turning pink, she quickly turned away and muttered, "Sorry, forget I said anything." Hazama continued staring at her for a little longer before saying decidedly, "To think a princess like you had the same sentiments as me…"

"Eh?"

"I like you, I may not curse you tonight," Hazama said, and Teresa whipped her head towards her. Hazama was expecting alarm, not excitement, which filled her eyes. "You curse people? Really? Interesting! You've got to tell me how!"

"...Why?"

"Well, I got a few people I need to curse. Starting with Gi- my father," Teresa replied, smirking slightly at the end. Hazama raised both brows at the slightly sadistic look that touched her face, and chuckled lightly, saying, "I guess I don't mind telling you about them."

* * *

Hope you like it! Please do review!

XOXO, anime4life2112


	11. School Trip Part III, An Eventful Day

**Hello, dearest readers. First, I'd like to apologise for taking such a long time to update. I have been really busy with school, class tests, exams, co-curricular activities, so on and so forth. I won't make any promises: I 'm not sure when the next chapter will be out. But for now, I hope you enjoy this chapter**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just parts of the plots in this story**

* * *

Chapter 11: School Trip Part III, An Eventful Day

The next day, they decided to forget about assassination and focus on enjoying the school trip. With that, the class broke off into their different groups and went their separate ways. With much persuasion from Kayano, Nagisa's group visited every, single souvenir and snack store there was in the province.

"How much longer?" Sugino groaned, feeling very, very sick. Throughout the entire time, they were sampling local foods wherever they went, and Sugino pretty much hit the limit. Any more and he's gonna hurl.

"Be patient! We're almost done with the snack stores! This is the last one! After this store, it will be souvenir-shopping next!" Kayano exclaimed excitedly, pulling the girls into the store, with the boys trailing after. Kanzaki, Okuda and Teresa bit back their chuckles as they watched Kayano oogle all the treats with sparkly eyes. Karma was studying the spices they had, with Nagisa nervously questioning him what he intended to use them for, while Sugino watched them - more specifically, Kanzaki - from the sidelines, having had enough of snacks.

As Teresa rounded the corner of a shelf of chips, she bumped right in a firm chest and let out a low 'oomph'. Rubbing her nose while letting out a low groan, she slowly looked up and flashed a sweet, apologetic smile. "My sincerest apologi- oh, it's just you."

Her sweet tone immediately morphed into a dead one she realised who it was she had bumped into: Gakushuu. He raised a brow as his eyes narrowed, frowning at the girl before him. "What do you mean, it's 'just me'? Shouldn't you apologise when you bump into someone?"

"I would to anyone else but you. And Seo too. That persistent bastard does not stop pestering me! What on earth are you doing to keep your end of the deal?" Teresa growled, poking his chest with her index finger while keeping her voice low, not wanting to cause a commotion. It was true, even after she had left the main campus, Seo had not stopped his attempts to have her, spouting nonsense like, 'If you apologise to me wholeheartedly, I might consider going out with you'.

Talk about a cheating bastard, too: he was currently going out with Tsuchiya Kaho.

"I've tried, but he wouldn't take no for an answer, and like you so efficiently put it: he's persistent," Gakushuu replied, rolling his eyes slightly at her antics. He had to admit though, it was annoying seeing Seo go after her like a beggar in need of money: it was just disturbing.

"Heh~ So there are things even the great Asano-kun can't do?" Teresa taunted, and she saw a vein visibly pop near Gakushuu's temple, causing the end of her mouth to twitch upwards in a triumphant smirk, which fell immediately when she heard the very subject of their conversation.

"Oi, Asano-kun, what's going on-" Seo rounded the corner, and when his eyes landed on Teresa, he let out a loud snort. "So, after me, you go chasing for Asano-kun, huh? Man, you really are a slut."

Teresa's right eye darkened dangerously as her murderous intent began to rise, and Gakushuu, who was looking at her the entire time, felt a chill run down his spine, but that fear was gone as soon as it came, as she flashed a coy smirk. "So, after going out with Tsuchiya, you continue to pursue me? Talk about a man-whore."

At this, Seo gnashed his teeth and raised his now clenched fist. "Don't you dare talk back, you bitch! E class losers don't have the right to raise up against us!"

As his fist came for her, Gakushuu instinctively moved towards them, ready to stop him, but a tan hand was way ahead of him. Holding unto Seo's fist firmly - or rather, so hard that the said boy almost winced in pain - Karma had an arm wrapped around Teresa's shoulders as he gave a serene smile to him. But Teresa and Gakushuu knew better: there was a storm raging in his eyes.

"Getting physical with a girl, now, are we? Not the very gentlemanly thing to do, don't you think?" Karma stated, tightening his hold on Seo's fist, the said boy paling in trepidation and agony as he felt pain shoot up from his hand. Letting out a groan, he pulled his hand away, which Karma grudgingly let go of. Teresa was concerned about Karma: she hadn't heard him behind her. Was he concealing his presence on purpose? And more importantly, how did he do it?

"Karma…-san?" She hesitantly voiced out, not sure whether she should say anything. He was one of the few people whom she couldn't perceive fully, despite being able to read him. He flashed a toothy grin her way, which instead of calming her, made her tense up more, as he said, "Don't worry about me. I'm fine."

"A-Akabane," Seo stammered, gaining Karma's attention once more. Turning to look at him, he gulped when he saw the look in Karma's eyes: he was out for blood.

"Seo-kun, you were just about to punch my classmate here, so me punching you back would count as self-defense, wouldn't it?" Before he could respond, Karma's fist came flying for him. Gakushuu, who watched the exchange in silence, widened his eyes when he saw Karma launch for Seo. He was about to step forward before a figure beat him to it.

All three boys froze in shock as Teresa's face was forced to the side, courtesy of Karma, who felt his blood run cold upon realising who he had punched. Silence hung in the air - and unbeknownst to them, the rest of the group for both sides, the Five Virtuosus and Nagisa's friends, had appeared and watched everything, taken over by horror when they saw what happened - as they watched the raven-haired girl remain still, standing in between Seo and Karma with her eyes closed as her face remained facing the side. Her cheek, which was completely in view, visibly reddened due to the impact.

Taking a deep breath, she slowly opened her eyes - at that moment, everyone let out a breath they didn't know they were holding - and turned her head to face Karma, who was completely horrified by what he had done, but only showed his wide-eyed expression on his face.

Karma was expecting her to at least glare at him in disdain or anger, lecture him about being violent and that he should learn not to pick fights. But he definitely wasn't expecting concern.

"Karma-san, are you alright?"

"...Huh?" Was all he could manage as he stared back at her in confusion. Ignoring the throbbing pain in her cheek, she stepped forward and took his hand and began massaging his knuckles - an action that slightly agitated Gakushuu, and what frustrated him more was that he didn't understand _why_ \- as she looked up at Karma, a gentle yet worried look in her eyes.

"You just got hurt badly yesterday, so I was afraid you might've strained yourself with that punch. Are you sure you're fine to be running wild again?" She questioned, staring at him with this innocent and warm look in her eyes that caused unknown feelings to stir in his heart, as he looked away - partly in embarrassment at the thought of anyone seeing how hot his cheeks were getting, and partly because he felt guilty about hitting her - and muttered in reply, "As I've mentioned earlier, I'm fine."

"That's a relief," she flashed a warm smile, before quickly being replaced by a stern look, and Karma mentally winced, thinking to himself, 'Here comes the lecture.'

"You shouldn't have stepped in. It's my problem, so please let me handle it on my own. I would've been fine on my own, although I do appreciate the concern." This was officially the second time everyone was surprised by her unexpected response. Karma stared at her in surprise as she frown back, awaiting his response. His lips broke into a smile as he let out a chuckle and replied resignedly, "Alright, alright, I won't."

"It's a promise, then." With that, she turned back to Seo, who was trembling slightly, still slightly in fear at the thought of what Karma might've done to him if Teresa hadn't stepped in. Noticing her gaze on him, he immediately put up a front - a poor one at that.

"H-Heh! Saying you hate me, then standing up for me. Are you sure you feel nothing for me?" He asked haughtily, raising his chin in the end. Teresa simply remained silent as a blank look appeared on her face, before looking down as she began patting her chest, resting her hand on it and remained still. She stayed like that for a moment, before looking up at him and flashing a relieved smile. "Not a peep!"

"That's not something to smile or be relieved about!" Seo exclaimed, clearly livid at her reactions, while everyone else held back their laughter, especially those in the E class. She simply brushed him aside, before saying, "Also, please don't misunderstand. What I did, was to protect Karma-san and myself, not you. I could've cared less if he beat you to a bloody pulp, but that would only inconvenience us, so I stepped in."

She then directed her gaze towards Gakushuu, who straightened his posture when his eyes met hers. "There isn't a need to report this to any of the teachers, is there? None of the students in the A class were hurt, and I was hit only because I chose to step in and stop Karma-san. Can we treat this as water under the bridge?"

Seo began to protest - he simply couldn't accept it, it was clear as day that Karma was about to hit him, and that goes against the system of their school. They had to set the example. But Gakushuu, whether it was because of the pleading tone in her voice or the earnest look in her eyes, couldn't bring himself to reject her plea, and answered, "Sure, I'll overlook it this time."

She flashed a genuinely radiant smile, which took away the breaths of everyone looking, and replied, "Thank you so much."

With that, she began walking away, but not before making eye contact with Gakushuu for a brief moment, which he acknowledged, before turning away and stalking off with everyone else, dragging Karma away by the arm. Watching them walk away, Seo seethed in rage. "Just you wait, I'm going to make her mine and then ruin her completely!"

Gakushuu simply raised a brow at that. Sure, out of the Five Virtuosos, Seo was definitely the most easily agitated and obnoxious, but somehow he doubted whatever he had planned for Teresa would actually work. Not to mention, for some unknown reason, he didn't like the idea of her being Seo's - not that he believed it to ever be possible, considering how much she clearly hated him. Araki then spoke up for the first time. "I'm more interested in the fact that she didn't get angry at Akabane for what he did."

"True: she didn't even flinch or cry. She's a lot more understanding and forgiving than I thought," Koyama commented, adjusting his glasses as he did, which Gakushuu agreed with. It was...unexpected, in a good way. However, there was one who disagreed.

"...I wonder if that's really the case," Ren stated, watching the group leave the store with his usual smile on, but a slightly fearful look in his eyes. To him, it didn't look like she was being understanding, caring or gracious…

...it seemed more like her being merciful.

* * *

"It hurts!" Teresa cried in pain, clutching her cheek as she crouched down, wailing in pain. Okay, she was exaggerating it, but still, if she didn't pretend that it was as terrible as how others would take it, they would suspect her and be able to evaluate exactly how experienced she was, as an assassin.

That, she could not afford.

"H-Hold on, Teresa-chan! J-Just let me get a cooling pack!" Okuda stuttered, flustered about how her classmate was reacting, as she began rummaging through her bag. Kayano and Kanzaki were also crouching down at Teresa's respective sides, Kanzaki comforting Teresa while Kayano, along with Nagisa and Sugino, gave Karma a look. Karma, watching everything, scratched the back of his neck, unsure of what to do. After all, it _was_ an accident.

"Karma-kun, you should apologise. Even if you didn't do it on purpose, you still did hit Teresa-chan," Nagisa suggested, almost as if he had read Karma's thoughts. Karma let out a strange sound - he couldn't disagree, and he didn't like being proved wrong about anything - and knelt down, placing a hand on Teresa's, now red and throbbing, cheek. Feeling the warmth of his hand, she stopped her antics and slowly looked up, eyes - or eye - meeting Karma's golden ones. He had a blank face on, but she could see the conflicting feelings swirling in those golden orbs. Blinking in confusion at his gesture, she watched the internal turmoil he had through his eyes, before he finally spoke up.

"...Sorry," he eventually mustered in tone that would've made any woman's heart melt. There was a slightly uncomfortable and guilty look on his face, and a unfamiliarly soft gaze in his eyes. One that made her cheeks flush, for reasons unknown to her, as she turned away and looked to the side, biting her bottom lip.

"I told you it's fine, didn't I? Besides, I'm the one who stepped in to stop you, so you are not to blame for the consequences…" she trailed off, unsure of how else to respond in light of this unknown side of Karma.

Briefly glancing towards the rest, she froze upon seeing the excited blushes of the girls, while the guys seemed to be gaping at the spectacle before them. She quickly cleared her throat and decided to get back to the point.

"A-Anyways! I'm not particularly upset or anything, so don't apologise. If anything, it's actually a bother. And besides, I don't blame you, so it's fine," Teresa said, and saw relief flood Karma's features, as his eyes softened and replied with a low hum.

"Then, shall we continue our trip around?" Nagisa asked, and everyone replied simultaneously, "Yep!"

* * *

That evening, when they had returned to the inn, the boys, mainly Sugino and Nagisa, let out a sigh. In the end, Kayano dragged them all around, which resulted them in buying tons of snacks and souvenirs. They had to lug around their goods - or rather, Kayano's snacks - for the rest of the day.

After their baths, they met downstairs at the arcade once more. This time, they decided to explore other games the inn had.

"Oh, cool! An air hockey table!" Sugino exclaimed, just as the gang gathered around it. Kanzaki had a slightly shocked expression in her face. "My, that's rare. You don't usually see these in inns."

"I don't think it is even that often you see them in arcades," Teresa commented. Having had her fair share of trips to arcades, she knew that she rarely saw air hockey tables.

"Wanna give it a try?" Nagisa asked, picking up the peg, an innocently sweet smile on his face.

"Well, I've done it before a few times. I'm not too bad at it," Kanzaki commented with a small smirk. Teresa, who stood next to her, also voiced out, "As have I."

"I'll sit this one out. I don't think I'll be any good at these types of games," Kayano exclaimed, waving her hand in front of her face, Okuda nodding in agreement. Staring down at the air hockey table, Okuda blinked in surprise. "Oh wait, isn't this a two versus two game?"

"Then, let's pair up, Nagisa-kun!" Karma suggested, to which Nagisa agreed. "No complaints here!"

"Then, the opposing pair shall be…" he trailed off, eyeing the two raven-haired girls standing at the other end of the table. Noticing his gaze on them, both girls blinked in confusion.

"No, bad idea! There's no way we will win against experienced players, Karma-kun!" Nagisa exclaimed in horror, while Karma gave a smirk. "I don't know, Nagisa-kun. With my experience in games and your superb observation skills, we might stand a chance!"

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that," Teresa spoke up, causing both boys to direct their attention towards her, as she continued speaking, a dissatisfied frown on her face. "It sounds almost as if you're saying, despite your lack of experience in air hockey, you stand a chance in beating either of us."

"I must admit, I dislike the idea," Kanzaki added, stepping forward and standing next to Teresa, almost as if to show she agreed on her sentiments.

'Kanzaki-san is actually upset?!' Nagisa, Kayano, Okuda and Sugino thought to themselves. Karma, noticing how both girls' competitiveness surfaced, gave a wide smirk.

One that clearly showed he was all for a good competition.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Don't like it? Then prove us wrong." Unlike Karma, Nagisa wasn't too keen about the idea of going against Teresa and Kanzaki - and the ominous looks on their faces did little to assure him the safety of doing otherwise - and was persuading Karma in hushed whispers to back down. But to no avail.

Kanzaki and Teresa exchanged looks, and came to a mutual agreement. Teresa then turned back to face Karma, her face mirroring his, as she replied, "Challenge accepted."

The two pairs stood at the respective ends, as Kayano, Okuda and Sugino stood at the sidelines, and began the game. After several swipes, Nagisa's paddle landed directly on the peg, and quickly calculated a strategy in his mind. Looking up, he stared directly at Kanzaki. 'Sorry, Sugino!' he thought to himself.

"Kanzaki-san, Sugino likes you."

"...Eh?" Using the temporary loss of focus, Nagisa swept the peg right towards the goal. Kanzaki, who took a moment to register his words, snapped out of it and quickly moved her hand forward and stopped the peg just in time. Teresa, immediately realizing what Nagisa had done, let out a shocked 'Oi!'

Karma simply guffawed, as Nagisa chuckled nervously and looked to the side, where Sugino stood. What awaited him was, albeit not the best reaction, but was better than what he had expected. Sugino had gone pale, his cheeks were flushed pink, as a dumbfounded expression took place on his face while he sweated profusely.

"Referee Kayano, what is your call on that play?" Teresa questioned, catching Kayano off-guard. "R-Referee?! Um, well… resume play?"

"You're letting it slide?!" Teresa exclaimed with a deadpan expression, to which Karma simply laughed harder.

"Nagisa-kun, what did you mean by that?" Kanzaki asked, clearly confused out of her mind. Nagisa stumbled over his words to formulate at answer. "I-It was a… a joke!"

At that, Sugino's entire being went white, and his soul seemingly left his body. Nagisa just killed him from within without actually doing anything but speak. And that just meant all the more humour for Karma.

"Karma-san, stop laughing!" Teresa exclaimed, before looking back at Nagisa, who was continuously shooting Sugino apologetic glances. 'Nagisa-san...you terrifying child…'

They soon resumed their game. As they continued, the more they hit the peg, the faster the pace of the game became. Soon, the peg was zipping across the table so fast, only its trajectory could be seen, but not the peg itself. On top of that, the four players were completely unfazed by this.

Kayano and Okuda, on the other hand, were flabbergasted - as for Sugino, he was attempting to recover from the heavy blow Nagisa landed in him.

'How much longer are they going to keep this up?!' Kayano thought to herself, increasingly alarmed by the speeds the game was progressing at.

"Oh shoot! I hit it the wrong way!" Nagisa exclaimed, as both he and Karma watched the peg slide over to the other end, getting slower as it moved. It eventually stopped right before the two girls, who stared at its dead state in confusion.

"...Isn't the airflow a little weak?" Kanzaki questioned, as Teresa began patting and feeling the surface of the table. "The atmosphere is gone. I think we reached the time limit."

"There's a time limit on these things?" Nagisa questioned, taken aback. Karma couldn't deny that it surprised him too. "I had no idea."

"Me neither," Kanzaki stated, a sheepish smile in place. Teresa then looked towards the scoreboard, on it in glaring red was '00-00'.

Neither side had scored a single point.

"I must admit, even I'm surprised," Karma offhandedly commented as he also stared at the scoreboard. He didn't think it would be a tie with neither side having a single point.

"Wanna go another round?" Teresa was about to reply when the clock on the wall behind them caught her eye. It was 8.30 in the evening already, and she mentally winced in remembrance of her agreement with Gakushuu.

Following her eyes, Karma also saw the time and frowned slightly. Time really passed too quickly. He turned to look at Teresa, and asked, "Do you really have to go?"

"To keep all of _this_ a secret, unfortunately, yes," she replied, albeit slightly reluctantly. She had to admit, playing around with them and putting up that mask she's been wearing was way better than having to face Gakushuu.

"Would you like us to accompany you there?" Nagisa requested, the rest of the gang already gathered, seemingly in agreement of Nagisa's statement. Teresa smiled as she felt her heart warm slightly at his suggestion. He always was the kind one that constantly looked out for others, but…

"If you do, it may make him suspicious. Plus, I'd rather not make you guys the target of their torture."

"And leave you all alone with the sharks? Are you crazy?" Kayano exclaimed, clearly against the idea of leaving Teresa alone. Teresa gave a nervous smile, and was about to give a response, when a much more chirpy voice beat her to it. "Then, allow me!"

Everyone turned in surprise to find Korosensei standing behind them, all dressed up in his usual robes instead of those provided by the inn, along with his disguise. Teresa pondered over it. She didn't like the idea of going with Korosensei, but it definitely beat going alone.

"That...would be a great help," she replied hesitantly. Apparently, the others also felt it was best if Korosensei accompanied her. Bidding them goodbye, the two went on their way.

The walk was comfortably quiet. Sure, Korosensei didn't make any move to speak first, and she wasn't exactly willing to initiate one, hence the silence. It allowed her to think about it: her assassination plan.

She had a vague idea of what she wanted to do, but she didn't have barely enough weaknesses on Korosensei. She had hoped this trip will give her more information to him, but it was nothing more than already implied by his everyday life.

"What are you thinking about, Teresa-san?" Korosensei asked, speaking up for the first time in the...fifteen minutes or so they've been walking. Startled, she let put a weird sound, between a whine and a hum, before replying honestly, "How to kill you."

"Nurufufufu! Quite the dedicated one, aren't you?" Korosensei said, chuckling slightly. Teresa let out a dry laugh and replied, "Isn't everyone in this class thinking of the same thing? Sure, they may all be teenaged kids, wanting to live their lives to the fullest and doing well at school, but the pressure you've put on them makes them subconsciously think about assassination almost twenty-four seven."

Korosensei remained silent as Teresa continued. "They themselves probably don't realize it, but I think it is starting to become an unhealthy obsession, and as a teacher, shouldn't you _not_ be encouraging it?"

"...You are very mature for your age, Teresa-san. And very perceptive too. You notice all these things that most people don't. A skill obtained from your upbringing, I presume?" Korosensei asked, causing her to still momentarily - not subtle enough to escape his eyes - before replying dully. "I… suppose."

"You need not worry, of course I have noticed how they've paid more attention on the assassination than on their personal lives and I intend to take some measures. More importantly, let's talk about you. You seem very closed-up about your personal life, and I'm still very concerned about those scars on your back." Korosensei continued, and Teresa remained silent as they walked down the street. She really didn't want to continue this conversation, it risked revealing her identity and it wasn't a pleasant walk down the memory lane for her.

"... I really don't want to talk about it, Korosensei." He noted the finality in her tone, but didn't withdraw. "I think otherwise. Talking about it will actually make you feel better, despite how hard it may be to bring it up."

She stayed quiet for a few moments, which made Korosensei slightly worried about pushing her too far, till she spoke up once more. "... I periodically fall into hysterics just _thinking_ about it."

If his eyes could still widen, they definitely would have, upon hearing her words. Just the thought could cause her to lose it? Just how bad was her past that it traumatised her to this point? He discreetly glanced sideways and noticed the lifeless look that had appeared in her eyes, along with her downcast head. It reminded him of how all the students looked like when he first began teaching the class: depressed, scared, lost.

"Does it have anything to do with why you close yourself off from everyone else?" She slowly looked towards him, and raised a brow. Seeing she didn't follow, he decided to elaborate further. "From what I see, you get along with everyone fairly well, but it is as shallow as it gets. It seems more to me that your relationship with your classmates are that of acquaintances than friends. You seem rather stand-offish too. You keep this distance between yourself and everyone else. Care to explain why?"

Once again, Teresa fell silent - how many times is this now - as she hesitated to answer. Should she tell the truth or a lie? She's spoke nothing but the truth all this while, so she didn't see why she should lie at this point, for it didn't reveal anything much. Besides, if she lied, he'd probably know, and that wouldn't help. "... To protect them."

"From what?"

"My demons," she replied, giving a small, sad smile, before facing forward once more. Korosensei looked like he wanted to say more, but decided against it. The look on her face said it all, she was on the verge of falling into that darkness her heart harboured. He decided to not to push any further, and soon enough, they reached the hotel. Turning around, she flashed Korosensei a bright smile, a complete contrast to her demeanour mere seconds ago, as she thanked him.

"Thanks for accompanying me here, Korosensei. You may go now, I'll be fine on my own," she stated, her hands behind her back. Korosensei chuckled in response. "You're welcome! Now, if you would excuse me, I need to make a trip back to Tokyo to look into something. If you need me, I'll be a call away!"

With that, he bolted off, blowing off a strong gust of wind that forced her to bring her arm over her face. When the wind calmed, she lowered her arm once more and found Korosensei gone.

Gritting her teeth, her hand landed on the knife - the real one that worked on humans - on her side and tightened around it. Any further of his little 'consultation' and she might've just lashed out to kill him. Taking a few deep breaths, she finally calmed down and entered the hotel.

She noticed how it was rather empty, considering the time, with the exception of several students strolling around, and settled in a nearby couch. Seeing that Gakushuu had yet to arrive, she pulled out her phone and started listening to music while she waited.

But then again, a lone E-class student in the territory of the A-class students? That just screamed bait. Which some girls obviously took, as they stalked towards Teresa, already planning her public humiliation.

"Oh, look who it is, the 'princess' of the school, Amano Teresa!" The first one, Yukinari Himiko, goaded, bending over in front of the raven-haired girl with her hands on her hips, a taunting smirk on her lips. Teresa simply looked up and into her eyes, a bored look on her face.

"Yeah, shouldn't you be riding on your white horse behind your 'prince'? Oh wait, that's right, you're not the 'princess' anymore, you're trash from the E-class," the next one, Amamiya Yuka, followed up, and honestly, Teresa was on the verge of laughing. Who could help it, those lines sounded like they came right out of a chick flick, and her imagining it in English with a stuck-up, American accent was not helping.

Behind the two was Kirisaki Mitsuki, who awkwardly stood a slight distance behind to two, appearing seemingly nervous about being there. But hey, the fact that she even there with them made her just as guilty.

Teresa was sorely tempted to yawn, bored by their pathetics attempts to drag her through the dirt. These students really did have a lot of free time on their hands, and didn't have anything better to do…

What made it even better was that they were the three girls that constantly followed her around when she was in the A class.

"Hey, are you listening to us? You know, now that you are an E-class student, you have to listen to whatever we say and you can't object," Yukinari snapped, apparently not pleased about the lack of attention and reaction they were being given. Teresa sighed and looked at Yukinari straight in the eye with an unyielding gaze, which made Yukinari waver slightly.

"I'm not particularly interested in what you have to say. I'll listen, but I should warn you, you're not going to get much of a reaction, and if that doesn't please you, please go bother someone else." Teresa had spoken politely, but her choice of words was what got on the girls' nerves. Yukinari, in particular, was fuming, and raised her open-palm, clearly intending to slap Teresa. Unbeknownst to them, Gakushuu had arrived as soon as they started interacting and was watching the entire time. He remained out of sight as he watched, curious as to how Teresa would react. "Don't get so cocky with m-"

"Heeey there!" A deep voice slurred, as a bulky arm hung around Yukinari's neck, causing the poor girl to slightly stumble forward from the weight, before whipping her head in alarm, and found herself face to face with a creepy-looking, middle-aged man.

His hair looked filthy and unruly, his tie hung loosely around his neck, shirt all wrinkled with several buttons undone, revealing far too much skin for comfort, and his belt was also unbuckled. It was the epitome of inappropriate. In one hand was a can of alcoholic beer, his cheeks and nose red with a perverted blush, and his breath stank of alcohol. It was clear as day that this man was drunk out of his mind.

"Wanna play with this mister? Don't worry, it'll be for a good price, and you'll definitely enjoy it," he asked, chuckling slightly. Yukinari cringed, very obviously disgusted by this stranger, who was drunk and acting all familiar with her. Teresa simply watched with a dull gaze, she didn't see a need to lift a hand.

At least not yet.

"L-Let go of her, you drunkard!" Amamiya exclaimed, albeit a little creeped but more concerned about her friend, as she tried to peel off the man from Yukinari, but to no avail. The man pushed her away and pulled Yukinari closer, a pervy grin on his lips, causing her to flinch and cringe further.

"How about it?" His persistence was rather displeasing to the eye, Teresa found herself feeling agitated at him, and actually pitied Yukinari. The said girl finally had enough and decided not to remain silent any further. "P-Please let go of me."

"Eh? Don't you want to play?"

"N-No, I-I don't. Please, l-let go of me!"

"Are you sure? You'll definitely like it."

Having had quite enough, Teresa abruptly stood up, grabbed the hand of the arm around Yukinari before twisting it inwards. Her actions elicited a yelp of pain from the man as she lifted it away from Yukinari and swiftly threw him to the ground. The three girls stared at the scene that played out before them, before warily glancing towards Teresa, who was giving the man a cold glare.

"She told you no and to let her go. Are you deaf, or do you not understand Japanese?" She scowled, folding her arms in her sleeves as she continued staring down at his fallen form, as he cradled his hand. He slowly looked up, and what was originally a furious glare immediately morphed into a smirk when his eyes landed on the raven-haired beauty before him.

"Ohh, I didn't notice you earlier, but you're quite the looker too. In fact, you're prettier than that one. Wanna bang?" He crudely asked, and if it was possible, Teresa's glare became colder as her eyes narrowed, barely containing her bloodlust.

"Not. Interested." She replied icily, wanting nothing more than for him to just back off and leave them alone. The man didn't seem to get the message though, as he slowly reached out for her, and brought her body dangerously close to his. She cringed slightly at the stench of his breath as his face closed in on hers. "C'mon, just once? I'll make it worth your while."

A shadow was cast over her eyes as her head tilted downwards, before she warned with an even tone, "...I won't say it more than once: let me go."

"Eh? What did you sa-" The man began mockingly, before freezing mid-sentence as his whole world was turned upside down.

Literally.

Flipping in mid-air, he landed on his back with a heavy thump. The back of his head connected with the ground, effectively causing him to black out with a groan. She watched as his eyes rolled to the back of his head while his mouth hung open with a trickle of drool leaking out.

The three girls simply stared from a distance, as Teresa bent down to the man and began feeling around at his pockets, before pulling out the man's phone and wallet from his back pocket, and took out his ID card. Grabbing her phone, she took a picture of it and sent it to Edward, and asked to send all the details to her.

Gakushuu, despite not being able to see what she asked, was well aware of her actions and intentions, and sweatdropped. 'Akabane is _not_ a good influence on her.'

Slowly rising to a stand, she called out to a hotel staff that just happened to be nearby, "Um, excuse me, sir? Could you lend me a hand?" The hotel staff, a young man with a crew cut, who appeared to be in his early twenties, rushed over upon hearing her.

"Mind bringing this man back to his room? Since I knocked him out, he won't be able to move for a while, and we shouldn't leave him out here. Do you mind?" As she said this, she grabbed a small piece of paper and began scribbling down a few lines, before attaching it to the man's phone and slipping it into his shirt pocket.

"Of course not, miss! Leave him to me. Take care of yourself, miss," the hotel staff, who went by the name Takezawa Kaito as indicated by his name tag, replied with a polite smile, before slinging the man's arm around his neck and lifted him up, before carrying him away. Watching them disappear around the corner, she turned back with every intention to sit down in that couch once more, only to find the three girls in her way. Raising a brow, she waited for them to speak up.

"Can I help you?" she asked blankly, not sure what to make of their confused expressions. Yukinari, after a long pause filled with much hesitation, finally questioned. "Why?"

"...Why what?" Gakushuu slowly made his way towards the girls while their attention was directed away from him, and continued listening.

"Why did you protect me from him?" Teresa scoffed lightly upon hearing the question, which slightly ticked Yukinari off.

"What a foolish question. Then let me ask you, do I need a reason to protect someone?" The three girls and Gakushuu couldn't believe their ears upon hearing her response. Gakushuu decided to make his presense known and stepped behind Teresa. When she saw the girls' faces turn pink, she didn't even need to turn around to know he was behind her.

Letting out a low sigh, she slowly turned around with a tired smile. "Well, you've certainly kept me waiting, despite being the one who called me here."

"I'm so sorry, Amano-san," He replied, smirking slightly when her eyes hardened, practically screaming 'no you aren't', before directing his attention towards the trio, whose blushes intensified. "A-Asano-kun!"

"I believe the teachers clearly stated to stay in your rooms after eight in the evening." At that, they hung their heads, staring at the ground guiltily before lighting up when they heard his continuation. "I'll overlook it this time, so please be more careful."

The gentle smile he gave them proved to be effective, as Yukinari and Amamiya stuttered out a 'yes' before rushing off. However, Kirisaki stopped midway, before turning back and walking in front of Teresa. Standing before her, she bow politely and said in a hushed whisper, "Thank you so much, Amano-san."

Teresa stared down at her, her eyes softening as a small smile graced her lips. She could tell that Kirisaki was being earnest, unlike the other two - who didn't even bother to thank her. "You're welcome."

Gakushuu and Teresa watched Kirisaki stroll off to the other two, a peaceful silence between them, till he broke it. "Sorry I was late, I had to persuade Seo not to go hysterical about this afternoon."

"Why...did you?" She asked, not seeing a reason for him to need to defend her, despite the fact that she did request of him not to report this afternoon's incident. Gakushuu gave her a blank look as he replied in an equally blank tone. "My father wouldn't deem it worthy of his time."

Teresa opened her mouth to protest, but thought about for a moment, and eventually nodded in agreement at that. "I get that."

Gakushuu then led Teresa into the dining area, where there were many empty tables, a few of them occupied by other guests who were staying in the hotel. Settling at the opposite ends of the table, they quickly ordered small drinks: oolong tea for her and water for him.

"So?" He questioned as soon as the waitress, who had spared a backward glance towards Gakushuu - something both he and Teresa noticed - but he paid no mind to it, left. She rolled her eyes as she swirled the liquid in her cup, watching the movement with bored eyes. "I haven't derived much. But I did get some info."

"Well, out with it then."

"The kind of exercises they do during physical education classes is not normal for students. I can't tell you specifically what type, since I'm restricted from doing so, but it involves lots of parkour," she stated simply, and watched at Gakushuu seemingly gobbled up this information, the gears in his head already turning and predicting every possible explanation. "As for the class' secret, I have questioned them about it, and they are still unsure about trusting me, but they have given me a chance to earn it."

"They want me to participate in a few...inquisitions. Only after which they would disclose the secret to me," she added, resting her chin on the palm of her hand, as she looked away from him and observed her surroundings. Some students were still hanging around, despite the hour, and were watching Gakushuu and her in disgust and distaste, clearly thinking she wasn't worth his while.

If only they knew the truth…

"Well, I don't think I am as capable of solving whatever they have in mind as you are, so if you don't mind, would be alright if you solved them in my stead? After all, it's you who wants to know their secret, not me," she said, making sure her wording and tone stroked his ego as well as give him a sense of obligation. So it was no surprise that he agreed instantly.

"Hmph, if you insist," he had replied, a prideful smirk in place as he tilted his head upwards slightly. She herself had a small smile as she finally sipped on the straw in the cold glass of tea. In her mind, though, spelled a different story.

'No one is 'insisting' at all, you egotistical, power-hungry ass! Just you wait, I'll make sure to see this through to the end and return the humiliation you put me through a hundred times over!' She was mentally screaming at this point.

Sucking on the straw, the amount of tea in the glass cup had been reduced to about half when she suddenly began to feel slightly light-headed, but ignored it, thinking it was just exhaustion.

Removing her lips from the straw, she folded her arms on the table and rested the side of her head on them, her face still directed towards Gakushuu, who had opted to drink his water upon watching Teresa.

She watched every second of his movements, unconscious of the fact that her senses were no longer paying attention on her surroundings, but on him.

His eyes were always looking straight forward, facing whatever he deemed a threat or an obstacle that needed to be overcome. A little fact she noticed during her time in the same class as him. No matter what he did, be it in the classroom or out in the sports field, not a single lock of that strawberry-blonde hair of his was ever out of place, and always handsomely crafted his face.

Now that she thought about it, Karma was almost exactly the same. Why was she so conscious about all this about Gakushuu right now anyway?

The said boy, upon putting down his cup, spared a glance towards her and was slightly taken aback by the sight of the glazed look in her eyes and the brilliant, feverish blush that spread across her cheeks and nose. But, rather than sick, she looked a little...drunk.

"When you pretend to be your 'perfect' self, you are actually really boring, you know?"

"...I beg your pardon?" Gakushuu asked, confused by this turn of events. He didn't see that coming, nor did he think she would speak about him.

"When someone or something is flawless, it becomes boring. 'Cause it means people knows everything about them, and there would be nothing to find out. There would be no meaning in trivial matters like bonding or getting to know one another, because there's nothing to know. Hence, it makes you a boring person." Listening to her explanation, Gakushuu found himself agreeing with her. She definitely wasn't wrong, and he couldn't find the words to counter her.

"But y'know, although it makes you interesting, if you weren't such a power-hungry fool, you'd actually be quite cute," she suddenly blurted out, so bluntly and straightforwardly, not to mention the fact that her voice slurred slightly as she spoke. Gakushuu raised a brow at this, immediately noting that something wasn't right.

"Amano-san, are you alright?" he inquired, unsure of what else to ask in light of her current...behaviour, and opting not to comment on the fact that he didn't appreciate being called 'cute', or a 'fool' either, for that matter.

"What are you talkin' about, I'm perfectly fi~ne," she replied, the slur more evident now and her once polite manner of speaking had turned rather informal. She then stilled for a moment, before bringing a hand to her head, pushing her fringe back - revealing her entire face as a result - and gripped at her skull. "I am feeling a little light-headed, though."

He blinked once, then twice. Then he quickly reached out for her cup and took a quick sip, and immediately identified the faint yet sharp taste of vodka. Setting the cup down, he eyed Teresa once more, who now had to rest her elbows on the table to support her head and was still swaying slightly, and finally understood.

That waitress must have accidentally mixed up the oolong tea with oolong tea vodka, and clearly, despite the drink having a very low percentage of vodka, it appeared that Teresa didn't have much of a tolerance for alcoholic drinks.

Teresa, completely unaware of the thoughts going through Gakushuu's mind, was currently more aware of her current state and of the words she uttered earlier, and strained to clear her now hazy mind. She gritted her teeth and was grabbing the sides of her head in an attempt get her mind to focus.

Wait...what _was_ she supposed to focus on, anyway?

"Amano-san, you have low tolerance to alcoholic beverages." It was a statement, not a question. Not trusting her mouth to be able to say anything coherent any further, she simply gave a dull nod. Gakushuu hummed to himself, contemplating on calling a teacher to help her back, but that may cause them to assume he was the cause.

"Shall I...accompany you back to your inn? It doesn't seem to me that you are in any state to walk back, not to mention it is quite late, and as a gentleman, I can't let a young girl walk back by herself."

Normally, she would have been offended by the fact that he saw her as a young girl who was incapable of protecting herself - and amused by the fact he actually called himself a gentleman in front of her, of all people - but the alcohol in her system was clearly affecting her judgement, as she actually considered it.

Yeah, she really shouldn't go back by herself in her current state- no, she can't afford to show weakness, in front of Gakushuu of all people. But, going back in her current state would prove to be life-threatening, especially since those pair of eyes that have been following her since day one has not lifted its gaze off of her. However, she didn't want to rely on Gakushuu. But still…

"... Please do," she managed out, before standing up from her seat. At least she attempted to, before her legs buckled slightly, causing her to lose her balance and stumble forward. Luckily - or not - Gakushuu instantly reached out and caught her, helping her up while doing his best to ignore the sensation of her soft chest pressed against his arm.

"Sorry," she muttered, keeping an iron-grip on his arm to support herself, unknowingly pushing her chest further onto his arm. He struggled to remain an impassive expression as he led her out of the hotel, while noting that she was rather strong to have held his arm so tight, it actually hurt a little. Ignoring the gaping looks the other students were giving, the two walked out of the hotel and down the street that led straight to the inn. Teresa furrowed her brows as she tried gather her strength to continue walking, focussing on not tripping over again.

* * *

Dropping the drunkard off into his room, 'Kaito' let out a sigh as he stared down at the man. Sometimes, he really hated the stuff he had to do when disguising himself as someone else. The stench of alcohol mixed with that man's breath was simply revolting.

Sparing a glance towards the paper Teresa had had left as a note, he scanned through the contents and marvelled at her neat handwriting.

It read, 'Sir, I doubt you'd remember anything, but the previous night you were drunk and stepping out of your boundaries, and therefore I had to deal with you quite forcefully. For that, I apologise. I hope you will do well to watch your drinking habits in the future.'

'Kaito' barely contained his snickers as he read her message. It was so sweet and polite, it was almost impossible to believe she was the most cold-hearted assassin that ever existed.

Stepping out of the room, he pulled off the mask to reveal his skinless face, before changing out of the uniform he was in and back into his regular clothes, which included a black dress shirt, a pair of black pants and a black long coat.

Putting on a different face - one that he will use the identity of to get closer to her - he began making his way out of the hotel, barely able to contain his excitement.

He couldn't wait to break her.

* * *

"Hey," Gakushuu's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she turned her head to the side to look at him, as he continued, "what you said earlier, why did you say that? I would've thought you hated me."

"And I do. I just don't see how hating someone and being honest have anything to do with each other," she replied, albeit slower than usual. Gakushuu raised an amused brow.

"So, you admit that I'm 'cute'?"

"...Yeah, what of it?" She replied, clearly no longer thinking before she spoke, judging from the dazed look in her eyes. Not expecting that reply, he felt his cheeks grow hot and immediately turned away, not wanting her to see him blushing despite her current state.

They continued their journey in silence - well, an awkward silence for Gakushuu, who was gathering his bearings. He then realised how her grip on his arm had began to weaken as she began slipping from his arm. He wrapped an arm around her waist to secure his hold on her while slinging the arm of the hand she used to grab unto him earlier around his neck. He caught sight of her discomforted look while breathing heavily, trying to stay conscious, at least till they reached the inn. After a few more moments, he finally spoke up once more.

"Also, regarding what you told those girls, am I right to take it that you would have helped if it was anyone else?" He questioned, and she lifted her head slightly, looking straight ahead. She hesitated to reply, but eventually did.

"Yeah, I guess. I would have done it if it were anyone else. Whether it was someone from the E class, or the A class, or a teacher, or a total stranger," she paused while turning her head slightly to meet his eyes, a genuine, soft smile on her face - which, strangely, made his heart beat heavily in his chest - before continuing. "Even if it were you."

His eyes widened slightly, unregistered shock evident on his face. But it was gone with her next few words. "Not that you would ever need it. You don't look like someone who would be so easily pushed around by such creeps."

"...Thanks, I guess?"

"...Besides, saving people _isn't_ part of the agenda of my job…" Hearing her murmur that last part, he was about to question her about it but was cut off by another, high-pitched voice.

"Teresa-chan?!" He snapped his head upwards to find a petite, green-haired girl, whom he immediately recognised to be Kayano Kaede rushing forward, with several other students on her tail.

Gently removing her arm from around his neck, he lowered her body to Kayano, whose arms were stretched out, ready to help her. Looking back up, he took note of the people in the group: Kanzaki Yukiko, Okuda Manami, Tomohito Sugino, Hazama Kirara, Terasaka Ryouta, Isogai Yuuma, Shiota Nagisa and Akabane Karma.

The girls, Kanzaki and Okuda, rushed forward to help Kayano in supporting Teresa's body, while the rest stood by the side. Terasaka took one look at Teresa's sluggish form and began fuming.

"Oi, Asano! What the hell do you think you are doing to our classmate?" He growled, seemingly ready to pounce. Naturally, Asano was unfazed by his outburst, but what unnerved him slightly was the words that Hazama, of all people, said to follow up Terasaka on the matter.

"If it's your fault, I'm putting a curse on you tonight." Gakushuu simply raised a brow, refusing to show any emotions on his face. Seeing how nonchalant he was behaving only served to enrage Terasaka further, and he raised a fist, growling, "Asano, you- "

A weak, yet firm, hand stopped Terasaka, holding onto his arm. Everyone turned back to see Teresa, barely conscious, but enough for her to maintain a firm grip on Terasaka's arm. She wasn't even looking his way, for her head was resting on Kayano's shoulder.

"Don't, Terasaka-san. Asano-kun isn't at fault. The waitress brought me the wrong drink, I asked him to bring me here." She explained in a low, rushed tone. Hearing her words, Isogai looked up from Teresa to Gakushuu, questioning him about it. "Is that true, Asano?"

"Yes, it is." He curtly replied, wanting to leave as soon as possible.

"I see. Thanks for bringing her here."

"Oi, don't tell me you're buying this. He could've been the one to tell the waitress to- " Terasaka got cut off once more when the grip on his arm tighten, hard enough to make him wince in pain. Shooting a glare towards Teresa, he dropped it immediately upon seeing the deadly look on her face.

She was peering at him through her raven locks, her eyes seemingly glowing in the shadows, sending a chill down his spine. It was clear she had no control of her actions. This effectively causing him to flashback to when she first transferred into the class and swallowed hard.

"I said 'don't', didn't I?"

He quickly averted his eye and forced his arm out of her grasp, turning away in sheer fear. Noticing the look on his face, Hazama snickered evilly, simply relishing in the sight of her friend cowering in fear. Something Gakushuu noticed, but decided not to comment on it, knowing it wasn't his place to, and continued watching as the girls struggled to keep Teresa standing upright.

The next thing everyone knew, she was swept away from the girls and into Karma's, who held her in a princess hold. His hold on her appeared slightly possessive, and if that didn't show it, his eyes as he engaged in a stare-off with Gakushuu sure did. He had an impassive look on his face, but his mercury golden eyes glinted dangerously.

"It would be appreciated if you reduced contact with our classmate, Asano-kun. As you can see, we don't take it too well," he stated with a strained tone, sounding calm, but Gakushuu could see the heated glare he was giving. Feeling snarky, he gave a slight smirk.

"She agreed to come and see me. I can't help it if she chooses to spend time with me over you," he replied, feeling oddly proud when he saw Karma's eye narrow, lips falling into a scowl.

"Well, I guess I'll just have to make sure she doesn't want to see you," Karma snarled, before turning around and walking back into the inn. Gakushuu's eyes narrowed at that, feeling anger, along with a very ugly emotion, bubble up from within, as he, too, turned around and stalked off, making his way back to the hotel.

The rest of the students exchanged confused or knowing looks.

"Uh, what just happened?" Isogai asked, looking around at his fellow classmates.

"Karma and Asano are jealous of each other? Never thought I'd live to see this day," Hazama commented offhandedly, the usual bored look on her face, but her blood-red eyes gleaming with wicked amusement.

"A love triangle! This is so exciting!" Kayano squealed, pressing both palms on her cheeks, gushing at the thought. "I wonder who she'll be with in the end."

"I have to admit, that is something to look forward to," Kanzaki agreed with a small smile.

"But, she said she is interested in neither of them, meaning she would never enter a relationship with either. And besides, I think it's quite unlikely that she would go out with Asano-kun. I'm not sure about Karma-kun, though…" Okuda stated, not stuttering once for the first time. Everyone contemplated on her words, before Sugino spoke up in protest.

"We can't be sure. She may have said that, but feelings can change over time, and when that happens, everything may be different. For them, and for us too." He declared, causing everyone to stare at him in surprise. Then, a warm smile appeared on Nagisa's face.

"I hope you're right."

The gang then parted ways, and coincidentally, Nagisa and Kayano found themselves walking side by side with each other. Not wanting an awkward silence to hang in the air, Kayano decided to initiate a conversation.

"So, today's the last day, huh? This school trip was really fun while it lasted. We got to see different sides to everyone!" After taking a few more steps, Kayano noticed Nagisa had remained deadly silent, and turned around to see the bluenette a few steps back, staring straight at her, causing her to raise a brow in confusion. "Is something wrong?"

"... Not really. I was just doing a little thinking on my own. About how the end of this school trip approached so quickly." Kayano remained silent as she acknowledged the truth of his words, while he simply continued. "This assassination lifestyle has only just begun, and I don't know whether the world will end next year or not, but… our class will definitely come to an end next March."

"... That's true," Kayano managed, a cold and faraway look in her eyes, a piercing pain and incessant screaming echoing from the back of her mind. All of which she forced back with a small smile.

"I… want to learn more about everyone, try killing Korosensei more, and live without leaving anything unfinished, so that I'll have no regrets." The smile on her face became genuine as she looked away and towards the crescent moon, just like her best friend was doing.

It was after several moments that she finally spoke up, "For now, I'd like to go on a school trip, just one more time."

Nagisa couldn't help but smile at her words, as he gave his reply.

"... Yeah."

* * *

Stepping into the girls' room, he noticed it was vacant despite all the futons laid out. He carefully put Teresa down on one of the futon, unknowingly causing her hair to sprawl out in all directions. Normally, it would look like a mess, but somehow it just made her all the more alluring. Raising a hand, Karma swept aside her bangs to reveal her entire face.

A relaxed expression was present on her face, cheeks slightly pink - due to the effects of the alcohol - and her lips slightly parted. Her robe was rather loosely done after moving around so much, revealing her cleavage slightly as her chest rise and fell with each breath she took. Chuckling to himself, he swiped out his phone to snap a quick pic - never hurts to have some embarrassing blackmail. As he reached out to adjust her robe, his hand hit something rigid at her hip.

Curious, he pulled at the robe and bunched it at her hip, revealing the sheathed blade tucked away in the waistband of her underwear. Eyes widening slightly, he slowly and carefully drew the blade, making sure not to wake the sleeping beauty, he drew a sharp intake of breath upon realising it was a real dagger.

Twirling it around in his hands, he noted that it was considerably light, lighter than any dagger or knife he has ever held, and the blade looked so refined and polished, with the exception of several scratches here and there. It was unbelievable easy to control in his hands, despite its size.

Stopping his movements to observe the handle, he noticed the letters "TRD' carved onto it. He raised a brow, wondering exactly what it meant. It couldn't possibly be Teresa's initials, her full name _is_ Amano Teresa.

Lifting the metal blade just beneath his nose, along with the sharp smell of iron was the stench of… blood? And from quite some time back too. Judging by how weak the smell of blood was, the blade must've been washed many times, but not enough to remove it completely. And from the scratches on the blade, he'd say it has been used to stab through multiple skulls.

Tearing his eyes off of the blade, he stared down at the raven-haired girl who continued to sleep peacefully, the black of his eyes turning into slits.

Just who was she?

Hearing the sound of footsteps slowly approaching the room, he quickly sheathed the dagger once more, before adjusting her robe and pulling the covers over her form, up to her neck. As soon as he stood up, the door slid open once more, revealing Kataoka, Yada, and Fuma.

"Oh? Karma-kun, what are you doing here?" Kataoka asked, raising a brow. She immediately noticed the passed-out gal lying on the ground, before looking back at him.

"Oh nothing much, I was just carrying Teresa-chan into the room. She accidentally consumed some alcohol when she was with Asano-kun earlier and had just fallen asleep. I'll leave her in your hands, now," he replied, before excusing himself and making his way out. The three girls watched him as he disappeared behind the doors, before turning back to Teresa.

"They are a lot closer than I thought," Yada commented, Kataoka and Fuma nodding in response.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they're already dating, but that doesn't seem to be the case," Fuma stated, her index finger and thumb at her chin. Yada nodded in response.

"It's clear that Karma-kun has feelings for her - not sure if he notices it himself though - but it doesn't seem that Teresa-chan feels the same way he does. It's a pity, really, they are kinda cute together."

"We can make her fall for him. I have a few plans in mind!" Fuwa stated, grinning cheekily, while Yada let out a nervous laugh. "Eh…"

"You will do no such thing. You shouldn't interfere, or you might make things worse!" Kataoka exclaimed, to which Fuwa sulkily complied. Unbeknownst to them, the girl lying on the ground began turning around, as a dream - or rather, a memory - came to her.

* * *

" _You are free to make your choice. To live a normal life and have the memories of the past two years haunt you, or to live the life of a killer, and drown out these old memories forever. Which do you choose?"_

" _... I choose-"_

* * *

Teresa's eyes slowly cracked open, only for a ray of sunlight to shine down on her. Blinking several times to allow her eyes to adjust to the light, she looked around and saw all the girls in their futons, all fast asleep.

She registered a dull pain in the back of her head as she rose into a sitting position, bringing a hand up to massage her temple, squeezing her eyes shut.

Feeling something prod lightly at her thigh, she brought her hand down to her waist and pulled out he sheathed dagger from her side, and studied it.

Eyes narrowing, she thought back to the dream she had the night before.

'That's right. I chose… ' She thought to herself, as she wrapped her fingers around the handle of the dagger, tightening her grip on it. Her eyes looked back up, now with a dull and cold gaze.

' _To live the life of a killer_.'

* * *

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do review!

XOXO, anime4life2112


	12. Human Or Robot, Undercover In America

**Hello lovelies! Thank you for waiting, here's the chapter you've been waiting for (if you haven't, well, here you go anyways)! So, I was going through comments, and I noticed someone mention Teresa to be a 'Mary Sue' character. I don't deny it, but really it's more of the fact that she is extremely intelligent that allows her to be capable of doing almost anything. And she is supposedly a mentally-broken character, so... not so perfect.**

 **A few things I need to make clear in this chapter:**

Normal Text

"Normal Speech"

'Normal Thought'

 _Flashback_

 _"Flashback Speech"_

 _'Flashback Thought'_

" _English Speech_ " (The inverted commas are not italicised)

" _Foreign Speech_ " (The inverted commas are not italicised, language used will be emphasized)

 **Warning: when you reach the line that begins with '** Accepting a tall glass of champagne from a waiter that passed by **', there will be a slight gore scene, so skip if you cant stomach it, or read at your own risk. Well, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters.**

* * *

Chapter 12: Human Or Robot, Undercover In America

Karasuma stood in the middle of the dimly lit room, surrounded by government officials seated behind their long desks, as well as giant screens, each of which allowed him to communicate with the individual on the other end, despite being unable to see some of their faces.

Then again, some of these individuals' identities are top secret.

"No luck or decent progress in assassinating him, even on the school trip? Are you sure this matter is truly going to turn out alright, Karasuma-san?"

Despite the wording, Karasuma could clearly make out the condescending tone. It was clear that some, if not most, of these officials doubted his capabilities.

Not that he was in any place to judge. He was, albeit reluctantly, admittedly disappointed with himself too. He had hoped this mission would be resolved soon, but no such luck.

"This is all due to my own incompetence and shortcomings. I shall put forth doubled effort into assassinating the target." Karasuma replied evenly, his subordinates standing a few steps behind him as they anxiously watched every second of this gathering.

"It is already nearing the end of May. The deadline is drawing closer by the moment."

"Really, when push comes to shove, we can just fire a missile on the school…" Apparently, one of these officials were foolish enough to even suggest such a thing. Karasuma was tempted to shake his head and lecture the person, but again, he wasn't in any position to speak that way. Fortunately, that idea was completely shut down by another.

"You should give up on that idea. The risk is too high." The man who spoke up continued to explain, "He is able to move faster than the explosion itself and avoid it completely in an instant. There was that time we ambushed him with a missile attack at the Pacific Ocean… he came to us later that day to _return_ the missile, having put the fragments all back together."

A vein near Karasuma's forehead popped upon hearing that. He made a mental note to have a word with that octopus about his way-too-free-spirited self.

"What the- Then, is there really no way to deal with him?" It was then one of the individuals that didn't show their faces finally spoke up.

"Do not worry. Rest assured, several of our allied nations have pooled their technologies together, and are conducting research. As for the application of the fruit of their labour, they have reached an agreement with Japan's Ministry of Defense some time ago." Karasuma raised his head slightly at this new information, awaiting further details.

"Two very special assassins will be sent to join his class, both possessing abilities which surpass the limits of human intellect, through the power of science. One of them still requires more time to adjust and work out the kinks, but the other already completed their preparations and had been put on standby while you were away. There's quite a surprise waiting for you back in that classroom, Karasuma-san." Naturally, he wasn't too pleased about this, as Karasuma narrowed his eyes, before excusing himself.

* * *

"Hm… Karasuma has it hard, doesn't he?" Teresa stated, looking out the window of her limo as it made its way to school. She was currently on the phone with Gid, in regards to the most recent meeting he had with the government officials of Japan and all of the involving countries.

"Indeed. Especially since he was put in charge of this assassination classroom mission, every failure is automatically his culpability-"

"Since the higher-ups are too much of wimps to actually hold some responsibility for their actions." Teresa interjected, knowing well enough what the government and people of the highest social status were like at the back of her hand. Edward bit back a chuckle as he focussed on the road, while Gid simply let out a sigh.

"Yes, I guess that is a valid point. But that's besides the point. I called in regards to the new transfer student that would be coming today."

"Believe me, I'm well aware. Karasuma sent a message about it to everyone in the class. Yesterday," she added the last part as an afterthought, which caused Gid to pale slightly at the other end of the line. Hearing him go silent, Teresa spoke up once more, this time in a lecturing tone.

"Yes, you know very well how I hate to be informed last minute, and this is very last minute. After all, this new student is transferring today, isn't she? From now on, please make sure to inform me of anything new as soon as possible."

"Yes ma'am." Despite not being able to hear what Gid had said word for word, Edward could easily guess what his reply was, judging from the flow of the conversation, and broke into a fit of chuckles. Teresa shot an annoyed glare at him through the rearview mirror.

"Focus on the road."

"Yes, yes."

"Anything else you wanna tell me?" Teresa inquired. She was quickly approaching school, meaning there wouldn't be a lot of time left to converse. She needed this conversation to end as quickly as possible.

"Ah, yes. All the information regarding the new student is in a folder, which I've handed to Edward. I believe you've received it?"

"Yes, I have. I've yet to open it, though," she replied, reaching out for the brown folder that had been lying on the seat next to her.

"Great. Go through it, it should give you all the information and details you need to know." Upon hearing those words, she paused taking out the documents midway and placed them on her lap, before her hand went up to her phone once more.

"Gid, you know that I hate it when you keep something from me, don't you?" Gid froze up on the other end, before replying with a low 'yes'. Giving a slow nod, she continued speaking.

"Good. When you are ready to tell me whatever it is, feel free to call me." With that, she hung up on him. Returning to the folder on her lap, she pulled out the thin stack of papers and began scanning through the printed-out information. Her eyes widened with each passing detail, before letting out a muffled giggle, as she bit down on her lower lip.

"Oh dear, this is… Wow. Karasuma must have it really complicated for him… I almost pity him…" Teresa murmured to herself, placing her index finger, curled, over her lips.

She had to admit, this was… unexpected.

* * *

Upon entering the classroom, she immediately noticed the large, black, metallic box placed directly behind Hara's seat. As she approached her own seat, the small screen on the front of the box suddenly lit up, revealing the face of a young girl with bright lilac hair parted two ways, and blood red eyes.

"Good morning. I will be joining your class today. My designation is Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery. It's a pleasure to meet you." With those words said, the screen went black once more. She stared at the machine, dumbfounded for a moment, before sweatdropping slightly. 'I predict extremely hard times for Karasuma… '

* * *

Soon, all of the students turned up, for each of them to be greeted by their new classmate, resulting in a varied reaction of surprise, shock and horror.

Karasuma went up to the front, picked up the chalk and begin writing down several characters. Teresa noted how his entire left arm was shaking slightly with mild amusement.

It didn't take a genius to know that he was shaking with _rage_.

He began speaking in a even yet shaky tone. "As I believe all of you know already, this is the new transfer student and your new classmate: Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery-san who came here from Norway." At the end of his sentence, he wrote down the last character of the abnormally long name, the end of the chalk chipping off due to how hard he pressed the chalk onto the board as he wrote.

"It's a pleasure to meet all of you. Please treat me well." The screen went on for the 2-D female to appear, before going blank once more upon finishing her sentence. Everyone had turned around in their seats to observe the artillery do so.

'... Must be rough for Karasuma-sensei…' Kayano thought to herself, a deadpan expression on her face as she turned back to face the front.

'If I were him, I'd go crazy if I couldn't avoid this and had to act like everything was normal here,' Sugaya thought, awkwardly averting his eyes from the machine.

Karasuma silently observed his students' reactions, already knowing what's going through their minds without needing them to say it out loud. And he couldn't say that they were wrong. From the corner of his eye, he noticed Korosensei standing next to Irina - both teachers in front of the classroom door - with both of his 'hands' over that large grin of his, doing a poor job of hiding the chuckles that escaped.

Naturally, that struck a nerve.

"Don't you laugh! You're the same sort of sideshow as her!" He growled, a livid expression on his face, before turning back to the class, where everyone was still turned around to face their new classmate.

"Just so you know, she's an AI with a face that has been registered as a full-fledged student. Though she'll be aiming her guns at you from back there, under no circumstances may you counterattack. You are not permitted to harm any of the students, as per the contract you made as a teacher."

Instead of being troubled, Korosensei simply marvelled at the situation. "I see. Exploiting a loophole in my contract to use again me, calling a machine my student. Very well. Welcome to the E class, Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery-san."

"Thank you, Korosensei."

Teresa narrowed her eyes as she observed this exchange. Even as the artillery listened to the conversations happening around her, her level of speech was already evolving.

'... This could be troublesome.'

* * *

Soon, the first period began, and Teresa, while listening to Korosensei lecturing with half a mind, had her undivided attention on the giant, metallic black box standing right next to her. It intrigued her, and made her curious as to how it would execute its attempts to assassinate Korosensei.

Based on the details she had read in the documents, the artillery would make a formidable ally. However, the fact that it was simply a machine was what worried her. It being programmed with its first priority being Korosensei's head, she feared the outcome of its actions. In fact, all sorts of possible scenarios were going through her minds, most of which where the students wouldn't keep quiet and watch from the sidelines.

"Now, of these three characters here, one of them is already dead. The other two appear to get along well with one another," Korosensei was currently saying, while Nagisa and Kayano whispered to each other.

"But, how is it going to attack Korosensei?" Kayano asked, leaning over slightly to Nagisa's desk, while he did the same towards hers and replied, "What do you mean, how?"

"They say it's a 'fixed artillery', but I don't see a single weapon on it. So, exactly where are the guns hidden?"

"Hm… Maybe-" Nagisa was cut off by the electronic sounds that was elicited from the artillery as green text began running up the screen. Immediately after, the hexagons on the sides of the artillery burst open, revealing two large guns which were instantly deployed and rapidly fired at Korosensei, who dodged every bullet with ease. The rest of the students within firing range, however, were not as lucky, as they felt a barrage of BB pellets hitting them on their backs and the back of their heads. Even though it wasn't real ammo, it still hurt to be hit by them, at point-blank range too.

"Four shotguns and two machine guns. That's a veritable cascade of bullets, but it's just as I expected, as the students here do this sort of attack on a regular basis."

The only ones safe from the new student's attacks were Teresa, Karma and Terasaka, who sat in the back row, right next to the artillery.

Teresa narrowed her eyes as they followed every pellet shot. The trajectory of the pellets were random, simply following the direction Korosensei moved while he avoided them. There was no pre-planning, no feints, whatsoever. Putting into consideration that it was an autonomously thinking artillery, its attacks should start evolving… but how quickly?

"And, discharging firearms during lessons are prohibited for safety reasons." Teresa watched as Korosensei used the chalk he had been holding to knock one of the bullets out of its path and away from his face. As soon as he did, the artillery retracted its guns before the girl's face reappeared on the screen.

"I will keep that in mind and proceed with caution. Preparing to attack." With that, green text began running up the screen once more, causing all the students to gasp in horror, realising that there was going to be a second incoming barrage of attacks. Despite the noise, Teresa sharpened her ears and carefully listened to Karasuma, who now stood outside the classroom with Irina on his side, while discreetly glancing his way every now and then.

"From here on out, we'll see what she's made of. Seeing as she has the ability to evolve: with her own hand, she evolves both her AI and her body." She heard him say, before the artillery's voice cut in.

"Recalculating trajectory. Correcting angle of fire. Entering auto-evolution phase 5-28-02." This time, blue lines appeared, running up the bottom half of its body. Something Teresa took mental note of and memorised. Her eyes landed on a certain pattern, and narrowed. It looked awfully familiar…

"Tsk, tsk, will you ever learn?" Korosensei taunted, green stripes appearing on his face. With that, the artillery deployed its guns once more and fired. Teresa frowned as she quickly registered the trajectory of all these pellets. This attack… was different.

"This attack is exactly the same as the first. Just what I'd expect from a machine," said Korosensei, as he avoided the bullets with his ever-superior speed once again. His words earned a skeptical gaze from Teresa, who fought to keep a neutral expression.

'Did he really not notice, or is it because he's looking down on her that he missed it?'

"Given that, I need only utilize my chalk the same way as before, and…" Korosensei stated, as a pellet in the same trajectory from before went for his face. Moving his chalk, he knocked it away just like he did before…

Only to notice a second pellet behind it, a second too late.

Everyone watched in shock as Korosensei's finger exploded and splattered onto the blackboard, eyes wide and mouths agape. Even Korosensei himself was taken aback, as he fell awfully silent while he watched his chalk fall to the ground and snap into two.

'Aiming for his blind spot… with a hidden pellet,' Teresa thought to herself. This artillery was evolving far too quickly for her liking…

"Right fingertip destroyed. Effectiveness of newly added secondary gun proven and confirmed." As the AI said this, she retracted her guns once more.

"Every time she leans and studies her target's defense patterns, she repeatedly improves and alters her weaponry and program. It allows her to gradually close in on her foe, while eliminating his means of escape." Teresa heard Karasuma say.

'Not to mention, he doesn't have a large stock of options when it comes to defense patterns while he is in this classroom majority of the time, especially if it involves ensuring the safety of us students. Which would be his top priority as our teacher,' Teresa thought to herself, 'The AI herself may not be aware of that little fact, but despite that, it still creates both a physical and psychological cage for her to kill her target.'

"Probability of killing target with the next attack: less than 0.001 percent. Probability of killing target with the attack after that: less than 0.003 percent. Probability of killing target before graduation: greater than 90 percent." As the AI said this, Teresa snuck a glance at Korosensei, and noticed the uncomfortable look on his face.

"Now then. Korosensei. Resuming attack phase."

With that, guns were deployed again, and another barrage of pellets came. This time, as Korosensei avoided her attacks, he seemed more panicked than before, which resulted in a few mistakes, as so effectively pointed by the AI.

"Near misses: two. Confirmed hit. To calculate projected estimates, now adding four main guns and resuming attack." With that more guns appeared.

"An auto-evolving fixed artillery. Imagine that." Irina commented, observing the scenario with mild shock.

"She shooting BB pellets, the systems are the cutting-edge military technology there is. Certainly, at this rate, she'll eventually…" Teresa nearly scoffed at Karasuma's words. As if it would be that easy.

Apparently, Irina had the same sentiments as her.

"Do you really think it would go that smoothly?" As Irina said this, she glanced at some of the students in the classroom who were cowering in fear of getting in the way of the AI's attacks, before continuing in all seriousness, "If it were that cut-and-dried, I wouldn't be teaching here."

With that, Irina waltzed away, flicking her platinum-gold locks as she passed Karasuma.

* * *

When the first lesson finally ended, the classroom was a mess. Quite literally every inch of the floor was covered in BB pellets. It was no surprise that Korosensei had long high-tailed out of the classroom.

"Do _we_ … have to clean all this up? Maehara groaned, as he lowered himself into a squatting position. The rest who were helping to clear sweatdropped at the sight of the pellets practically coating the ground.

Muramatsu walked up to the now docile and seemingly powered-down artillery, and patted it, "You wouldn't happen to come with any cleaning functions, eh, Fixed Artillery-san?"

He clicked his tongue when he was greeted with silence. "Tch. The cold shoulder, huh?"

"Give it up. What's the point on picking on a machine?" Yoshida stated. Nagisa watched this exchange as he picked up some of the pellets. Noticing his gaze linger on the artillery, Teresa questioned him on it.

"Thinking about something, Nagisa-san?" This caught the bluenette by surprise, as he let out a startled 'eh', before eventually replying.

"I just thought it'd be nice if it got along with us. You know, like a normal classmate would…"

"... Nagisa-san, why do you think she's here?" Teresa asked the bluenette, who tilted his head sideways and gave an innocently confused look.

"Isn't it for the sake of assassinating Korosensei?"

Teresa's head dropped dramatically, as she gave a low sigh and shook her head. Honestly, Nagisa was just so naïve and innocent at times, it almost made her doubt her eyes the first time she saw him and determined him to be fully capable of being a skilled hitmen.

"Yes, but that wasn't their main objective, Nagisa-kun," Karma spoke up, apparently also well aware the true motive. Nagisa raised a brow, obviously more confused than before. The other students who were cleaning up the classroom of the BB pellets happened to overhear and were now also curious.

"Then why?"

"Just think about it: why on earth would scientists and inventors purposely transport this brand new and highly-advanced piece of technology, all the way from Norway to Japan, to this assassination classroom. Why do you think that's the case?" Teresa further inquired, causing Nagisa to furrow his brows, while his lips forming a thin line.

Now that he thought about it, it did seem suspicious. They could have just tested this invention anywhere else, but they sent it here, into their classroom. So they are definitely using this 'assassination classroom' as a means of experimenting it. But for what?

Seeing as to Nagisa had no leads in his mental conquest, Karma finally decided to help him. "Here's a hint: war."

With that, the gears in Nagisa's head began turning. Having war would mean weapons. A fixed artillery is loaded with them, and is able draw conclusions and strategies faster than humans. What more, it was auto-evolving machine. This artillery would be able to adapt swifter than humans, make its own weapons and deploy many more weapons than humans are capable of doing at one go. This would revolutionise warfare-

At this point, Nagisa's eyes went wide before turning to stare at Karma and Teresa in shock. The rest were slower, but eventually caught on, and were just as taken aback by their own realisations.

Noticing the change in expressions, Karma commented with a sideways smirk, "Finally caught on?"

" _That's_ what's going on." Teresa added, throwing away the BB pellets that filled the dustpan into the giant plastic bag provided. "I imagine Karasuma-sensei is also aware of this fact, which adds on to his reluctance to comply to her presence."

The students exchanged nervous looks, but Nagisa appeared to have a determined look in his eyes.

"That may be true, but her opponent is Korosensei. I'm sure he'll get through to her eventually."

While Teresa wanted to laugh at how… pure Nagisa was, she couldn't help but agree with him.

* * *

After a full day of constant barrages, Teresa took one look at the students and knew immediately what was on their minds: they have had enough. She knew for a fact that she, too, felt the same way.

"See you tomorrow, Karma-sa-" Teresa stopped short when she noticed he passed right by her, not even making eye contact with her, before leaving the classroom. Raising a confused brow, she shrugged to herself before leaving the classroom and making her way down to where Edward usually was.

Entering the limo, she fished out her phone from her pocket and dialled a number. After a couple of rings, the receiving end answered and the usual overly-cheerful voice of the person on the other end rang out into her unfortunate ear.

"Onee-san! How rare of you to call! Need somethin'?"

"Calm down, Lala. I wish not to turn deaf at the age of fifteen, even if I, most likely, don't have long left."

"... My apologies, Onee-san." Teresa noted the pause and frowned. She knew exactly what was going through Lala'a mind as of right now, and didn't like it. She appreciated the thought, but she didn't want the pity.

"It's fine. More importantly, did the Japan's Ministry of Defense make any contact with you recently?"

"Uh, yes, they did. They were requesting for the blueprints of some of the latest military equipment and electronics I designed and invented. Why?"

"No reason, just needed a confirmation. Next time, if any government-related work come your way, please inform me before agreeing."

"Understood, Onee-san!"

"... See you soon."

"Bye!" With that, she hung up the phone. So it wasn't her imagination, that design _was_ , in fact, Lala's. Well, that just made things worse. If the artillery's weapons and system were _that_ advanced, it would make its chances of assassinating Korosensei much higher.

And that, she couldn't let happen.

* * *

The next day, she turned up in class at her usual time, only to notice Terasaka and his gang already there, surrounding the artillery with a roll of duct tape in hand. Upon hearing her enter, they whipped around in panic, and calmed down slightly when they realised it was her. However, they remained as tense as ever.

"Were you guys… gonna tape her up or something?" Teresa questioned, as she approached her own desk and settled down her bag on it. She watched, with slight amusement, as the boys stared away from her and had their gazes on the ground, sheepishly stuttering an answer, while Hazama was her usual indifferent self as she replied, "Yeah, we were."

"... So what? It's better for everyone if she weren't allowed to freely shoot away during lessons-"

"Yeah, I agree. Let me contribute to that."

"- and besides, she was a total disturbance yester- wait, what?" Terasaka paused mid-sentence when his mind finally registered her words. The gang watched as she opened her bag and pulled out a long, thin chain of metal links and a couple of padlocks. The boys' eyes went wide, while Hazama simple made an evil grin and chuckled darkly.

"You just get more and more surprising, don't you, miss Princess?" She stated, which only earned her a coy smirk from Teresa. "Oh my, I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

"But, will such thin chains be able to hold against an artillery?" Yoshida questioned, eying the metal in Teresa's hands.

"Oh, but Yoshida-kun, these links are made from a mixture of copper, titanium and carbon. It's stronger and more durable than any other metal there is out there," Teresa replied sweetly, which would have entranced them, if it weren't for the fact it made the whole thing seem even more terrifying.

"How'd you even get your hands on that?!" Muramatsu exclaimed, to which Teresa simply gave a cheeky grin and winked. "That's a secret, unfortunately."

"Who cares where'd she got those from? Just hurry use it to chain up the damn machine before it wakes up!" Terasaka barked, and the five of them got to work. The boys taped up the sides first, before Teresa and Hazama secured the chains around its body, padlocking it.

"That should do the trick," Hazama muttered as she studied the end result.

* * *

"8:29 and 35 seconds AM. All systems fully operational and ready to go. Power-supply voltage: stable. Operating system: normal. Recording disk: normal. Various devices: normal. No unnecessary elements found. Program: start. Verifying tasks. Today's plans: attack per 215 shooting styles before sixth period, continue analyzing target's evasion patterns…" The AI looked out through her screen, only to notice duct tape forming an 'x' in her line of sight. She then attempted to deploy her guns, and resulted in failing to do so.

"Korosensei, I am unable to deploy my guns like this. Please remove these restraints." She politely requested, while the rest of the class had their heads turned, staring right at her, some appearing more anxious than others.

"Hm, I don't know…" Korosensei trailed off, scratching the side of his head. "Even if you say it like that, I can't really… "

"These restraints are your doing, are they not? This is clearly violence against a student, which is in violation of your contract-"

"You've got it all wrong," Terasaka growled, spinning the roll of duct tape around his index finger as he pivoted his body to face the artillery. "It was me. You're a pain in the ass, no matter how you look at it. This'll probably interfere with whatever assassination attempt you were planning, but… come kill him _after_ you've attained some common sense, you box of bolts. Anythin' you wanna add, Princess?"

Teresa raised both brows, slightly taken aback hearing Terasaka address her, before smirking slightly and turning to look at the AI.

"Since you have a program that allows you to evolve autonomously, piece of advice: use it to learn what it means to be human before you try to assassinate your target. And Terasaka-kun," The said male tensed slightly upon hearing his name, "please don't call me 'Princess'. You know how much I dislike it."

"Well, a machine wouldn't know anything about common sense, or being human!" Sugaya exclaimed, raising both hands with a cocky smirk.

Hara turned around in her seat to face the AI with a nervous smile, and said, "We'll undo those and release you once class is over, okay?"

* * *

"Will we really be okay now?"

Hearing Kayano's question earned several heads turned towards her. Nagisa was the first to speak up. "I think? But I still think Korosensei is going to do something, anything, to remedy the situation."

"Hopefully, his 'solution' will prevent another day of rampaging bullets. We can't expect to continue putting restraints around her," Sugino stated, warily eying the artillery as he said this. Although a machine may not have any 'emotions', he didn't want to risk antagonating it and have it aim its guns at him.

"Hopefully," Teresa mumbled to herself, as she too stared at the artillery. Truth be told, she was much more concerned about the creator and sender of the artillery, but she decided to keep that to herself.

Suddenly aware of an intense stare directed her way, she turned her head to the opposite direction to see Karma staring - no, glaring at her. It almost felt like the sharp end of a blade pointed towards her, however she wasn't the least bit intimidated. It was quite the opposite, in fact.

It immensely and thoroughly regaled her. While confused her at the same time.

When their eyes met, Karma's gaze immediately softened and averted slightly. Raising a brow, she decided to question him on it. "Is something on your mind, Karma-san?"

"... It's nothing," he replied, turning his head away from her. Unconsciously, a frown came over her lips while her brows furrowed. Her own reaction bewildered her, for she was confused by the unknown emotion that filled her being when he turned away. But whatever it was, it made her feel vulnerable and weak, and she did not like it.

And for reasons unknown, her mind drifted off to Gakushuu. Somehow, she got this nagging feeling she had uttered unnecessary things to the said strawberry-blonde male, and each time she tried to remember it, her mind just blanked out. She cursed the existence of alcohol; it made her perfect memory render meaningless in its blight.

Brushing it off, she too turned away to look out of the window, resting her cheek on the back of her hand, elbow propped on the desk, as she attempted to rid herself of these trivial worries. After all, her mission took precedence.

* * *

When school ended, Teresa rose out of her seat to quickly undo the padlock and remove the chains around the artillery. Winding it and placing it into her school bag, she looped the straps around her shoulder, and turned around to bid Karma goodbye, only to find him already gone. Her eyes narrowed slightly at the unwelcomed emotion that she felt once more, before shaking her head - as if it would shake off those emotions - and made her way out of the classroom.

Reaching the main campus, she approached the limo that was parked outside the gates, as usual. Well, at least she intended to. But a certain scene made her pause in her footsteps.

Maehara and Tsuchiya were walking side by side, chatting and laughing happily. Teresa raised a brow at this. She knew Maehara was a playboy, but he was the loyal type; he wouldn't two-time anyone.

But apparently, Tsuchiya was much more of a two-faced, two-timing harridan than she had deduced. Unless her relationship with Seo had been non-existent as of this morning, it was clear the brunette was currently cheating on Seo.

Which made Teresa worry about Maehara, for he, being an E-class student, would naturally become the subject of torture when the truth is brought to light. Swiping put her phone, she sent a quick text to Maehara before pocketing it once more and making her way to the limo.

On the way back home, Edward said to her, "Gid-sama contacted me earlier today. He was new orders for today."

"New orders?"

"Your undercover mission is to be on standby, he has a target he needs you to eliminate tonight. You will leave for the United States in two hours." Edward replied formally, before meeting her gaze through the rearview mirror and continuing, "Information on the target is in this folder."

With that, he grabbed the brown folder that was in the passenger seat next to him and passed it to her. Accepting it, she pulled out the documents and quickly studied them.

William Cruise. 34 years old. High-ranking government official in the US. Found to be guilty of racketeering, illegally marketing drugs and human trafficking. Unable to arrest due to lack of evidence. Punishment: Death penalty. To be eliminated on sight.

Teresa's eyes narrowed as a vicious grin settled on her lips. It's been way too long since her last kill, this would help her regain her touch. It would also serve as a great distractor from the unexpected disturbances she was experiencing.

"Where was he last spotted?"

"Unknown. But it is confirmed he is attending a party, with guests who are all inhabitants of the underground world. Mafias, gangs, illegal businesses, etcetera. You will be posing as Gerard Agreste's daughter, Francis."

"Gerard agreed to it?" Teresa questioned, a sense of nostalgia hitting her as the familiar name rolled off her tongue.

"After we explained the circumstances, yes. His daughter, Francis, has yet to personally make a public appearance - and she has yet to intend to - so no one actually knows what she looks like. And no one is aware that she would be coming along. So only your target will know."

"Which ensures safety for a dead man tells no tales," Teresa finished, smirking slightly as she filed the documents once more. She was looking forward to tonight.

* * *

Maehara, walking side by side with his new partner, Tsuchiya, observed as she stared longingly at a certain café they were passing by. Smiling to himself at his current accomplishment, he remembered his handphone buzzing earlier in school, and decided to answer it while her attention was diverted.

Unlocking his phone, he was expecting it to be a missed call from Yuuma - to lecture him about fooling around with girls again instead of studying - or even a text from Korosensei. So it came to his surprise that it was a message from Teresa.

Raising a brow, he smirked slightly, thinking his ravishing good looks had caught her eye. But that smirk fell into a sombre frown as he read the context.

'Being in a relationship with Tsuchiya is far too risky and dangerous. Break it off while you still can. You'll regret it once it's too late.'

Maehara frowned slightly. The message was vague, but he was more than capable of reading between the lines. On top of that, it's not like he was ignorant; he could tell from the times he hung around Tsuchiya.

But, while he appreciated the concern, he wasn't one that ran away from problems or challenges.

* * *

Karma let out a frustrated groan as his fingers slipped on the buttons of his game console, _again_ , leading to his defeat in the game he was playing. Letting out a curse, he tossed the console onto his bed, before throwing himself on it.

Palms pressed against his eyes, he gritted his teeth in frustration. His mind kept drifting off to the raven-haired girl that sat next to him in class, and that blade he found.

He didn't want to doubt her - for she was a good friend he trusted, but against his better judgement, he distanced himself away from her. It reminded him of his strained relationship with a certain bluenette.

What made the guilt eating away at him stronger, was the anguished look he saw flash past her eyes when he had turned away today. He didn't want to see her that way, but his instincts told him to stay away.

Thoroughly vexed, he picked up his phone and called for the first person that came to mind.

"Hello? Karma-kun?"

"Ah, Nagisa-kun. It's me~ There's something I need to consult you about."

"That's a first… Well, luckily I've got sometime to spare, so don't keep me hanging. Tell me, what's bothering you?"

"It's… about Teresa-chan…"

* * *

Gakushuu sat alone in the student council room in silence. He was done with everything he needed to do, and yet he felt restless. Usually, when he felt this way, he'd either hit the books or the gym.

But nowadays, he found his mind wandering off to a certain raven-haired girl.

Ever since the school trip to Kyoto, he found himself more and more intrigued by her. As they say, a drunk man is an honest man, and he knew that she meant every word she said.

She confused and amused him at the same time. One moment she hates him, and then the next moment she compliments him on his looks. She chided him on his arrogance, then commends him on it for it made his two-faced nature entertaining in her eyes.

At times, she infuriated him, behaving in an almost… bitchy manner, he thought against his better judgement. Throwing sarcastic comments, teasing and, god forbid, comparing him with Akabane.

And then there were the times she acted sweet, innocent… earnest. It almost made him feel bad about taking advantage of her, well, until he realises she was _acting_.

But nonetheless, she caught his eye. And he wasn't sure what to feel about it. Which was why he was in the room, awaiting the one person he knew he could and should consult.

Soon, the door slid open to reveal the tall male he had been waiting for. Pushing himself of the edge of the desk he had been leaning against, he greeted his guest with a smirk.

"I've been waiting, Ren."

* * *

Accepting a tall glass of champagne from a waiter that passed by, William sipped on his drink as he observed his surroundings, feeling very smug.

He had gotten away scot-free with everything, illegal dealings and all. And as his reward, he was invited to this extravagant party, with all the big names of the underground world. He came with the intention to form more ties - he had more than enough money, but still he desired more.

Making his way towards the host - who happened to be the very man who invited him - he bumped into an unexpected guest, sending that person landing on their rear. Turning his head to the side, he found himself face to face with a glamorous, lavishly and enticingly dressed gal.

" _Oh, my apologies._ " She said in English, and with a perfect, British accent.

" _No, it was I who wasn't paying attention_ ," he replied, offering her a hand. Accepting it, she let him pull her up back onto her feet, and proceeded to dust off her skirt and behind. His eyes followed her every movement as he ogled her.

She was clad in a long, wine-red cocktail dress. The straps were tied around her neck - and would've exposed her back if it weren't for her curled, golden-blonde hair that cascaded down to her hip - while there was a deep cut in the middle, exposing her cleavage and a bit of her stomach. She wore silver, silk gloves over her frail arms, covering everything up till her underarm.

On the left side was a long slit, that went as high as her mid-thigh, revealing the fishnet stockings that covered her long, slender legs, and the black, lace garter belt she wore underneath. Simple, blood-red stilettos covered her feet.

Around her neck hung a long, solid gold, lariat collar necklace, which lay in between her cleavage seductively, while thick golden bangles looped around her wrists, and diamond earrings dangled from her ears.

Her makeup was simple yet intricate, with only a light layer of blush, dark eyeliner and mascara that made her gentle, amethyst orbs pop, and maroon coloured her lips.

All in all, it was almost as if she was inviting attention.

" _I don't think we've met before. What's your name?_ " He questioned, eyes glued to her generous… assets as he spoke. She offered him a sweet, alluring smile.

" _Francis Agreste, the daughter of Gerard Agreste_ ," She replied in a low voice, tone coquettish with each word.

" _Might I interest you in a drink?_ "

" _No, thank you. I must decline. I can't hold my liquor quite well._ "

" _Come on, just one glass?_ " He gave her a wry smile, and she returned the gesture with a resigned smile. " _Well, if you insist._ "

He grabbed another glass and handed it to her. Happily accepting it, they clinked glasses and she tipped the glass, letting her lips touch the liquid, but none flowing into her mouth.

" _So, your father is the boss of an infamous French mafia?_ " William asked, internally grinning to himself. This created an opportunity for him to make a tie with mafias through her.

" _Yes, apparently. Unfortunately, I'm not of much value to the mafia_ ," The beautiful blonde sniffed, a dejected look on her face. " _Just a bargaining chip to make ends meet. Nothing more._ "

" _Isn't that a shame?_ " He murmured into her ear, casually placing a hand on her waist, giving sensual rubs. Manly satisfaction filled him as a light blush coated her cheeks, becoming more evident than the makeup applied.

" _I could make you feel more loved and wanted than anything else in the world. I could make you feel like a queen._ "

" _Could you really_?" She questioned in a hush whisper, eyes full of longing and desire, and dotted with tears at the ends. A look he returned with a lustful gaze, as he growled, " _Really_."

At this point, his hand was caressing her curves, enjoying the shivers her body elicited every time his hand inched towards her chest or her behind.

" _Should we take this conversation in more… private quarters?_ " He inquired, which earned him a shy yet excited nod in reply. Chuckling, he pulled her by the waist and approached the double doors.

Unbeknownst to him, as they walked, 'Francis' turned her head slightly to the side, facing Gerard, who stood at the far end of the room, currently chatting with a few business partners. When their eyes met, they exchanged faint nods of acknowledgement and silent thanks, before going on with their lives.

As they made their way to his private room, he suddenly began to feel sluggish, and felt himself dragging his feet with each step. Noticing his weight resting on her increasing, the blonde had a concerned look on her face as she glanced him. " _Are you alright?_ "

" _I'm fine, just a little tired_ ," he quickly replied, and before long they arrived. Entering the room, she gently set him down on his back on the bed. " _If you're tired, why don't you lie down for a bit?_ "

As she backed away from him, her closed hand rested over her chest as her cheeks turned a rosy red, looking nervous and embarrassed. " _U-Um, this is my first time doing this sort of thing, so c-could you close your eyes? I need to prepare myself…_ "

" **As you wish, Princess** ," he replied, not noticing how her eye twitched and body tensed upon hearing the nickname, and complied to her request. As darkness filled his vision, he felt his senses turning numb, and didn't realise the tight sensation around his ankle. Only after had he heard a metal click, did he open his eyes.

And boy, what a shock he was in for.

His feet had been bound - by the spare linen provided in the closet - to the end of the bed, while his wrists restrained to the head of the bedpost by a pair of metal cuffs.

But nothing surprised him more than the fact that the beautiful blonde who had kept him company was gone, replaced by a red-tipped, raven-haired girl, straddling on his lap, a sadistic grin on her lips.

" _W-Who-_ "

" _I am the girl you knew as 'Francis', William Cruise._ " She replied, the sweetness she had in her voice the entire time with him, now evidently gone. Looking to her side, he saw the wig with the beautiful blonde locks from before lying on the bed, along with purple-coloured contacts made evident on the pure white linen.

" _What… How did you know my name? Why are you-_ "

" _Oh, let's just say I'm an assassin hired by the US government, with orders to eliminate you for all the illegal business dealings you've made so far._ " His blood ran cold as his mind processed her words, unadulterated fear filling his being as he finally realised the severity of the situation he was in.

Panicked, he began pulling on his restraints - without much strength, he noticed - but to no avail. He heard her chuckled lightly, humorlessly, before saying to him, " _Don't bother. Those muscle relaxants in your champagne may not have been a strong dose, but are bound to kick in by now. Struggle all you want; you ain't getting out._ "

" _HEL-_ " He decided to resort to - as pathetic and miserable as it sounded - calling for help, only to get a harsh punch for his captor. One that definitely realigned his jaw. He could only groan in pain, for he could no longer speak even if he wanted to.

" _Well, that takes care of that. Saves me the trouble of having to gag you._ " She leisurely stated, as if she wasn't talking about ending his life. Pushing up the slit of her dress, she slowly revealed the silver dagger she had tucked away in her garter belt, and she relished in the look of pure terror that flashed past his eyes.

" _I know I'm supposed to end your life immediately_ ," she casually said, unsheathing the blade from its scabbard before flipping and spinning it around. " _But you kind of pissed me off, so I'm going to make you suffer first. And when I'm through… death will feel like a mercy after._ "

Undoing the metal cuff around one of his wrists, she held it in a firm grasp. He noticed, with much anxiety, it was the same hand he had on her waist.

" _This hand of yours has been rather naughty, literally rubbing me the wrong way and trying to cop a feel_ ," she growled ferociously, tightening her grip around his fingers. The shivers she gave earlier in response to his touches weren't those of pleasure, but of pure disgust.

Pulling out his index finger first, she slowly bent it backwards, a sickening crack heard as she did. Finally, when it was fully dislocated, with a flick of her wrist, she sent the blade right through it, loping it off his hand, sending blood splattering on their faces, chest, and the linens. He let out a groan at the excruciating pain that shot through his being from the torturing process.

The process she repeated nine more times.

Cuffing his wrists back up, she sent the length of her blade through both palms - for they lay one on top of the other - and made its mark in the wood, before pulling it back out, ignoring his cries.

Slowly dragging the tip of the dagger down his chest, it cut through the cloth of both his shirt and pants, which split open to reveal his naked form beneath. She eyed his groin for a good, few seconds, before a feral grin formed on her lips, sending a chill down his spine.

" _I bet you came here, thinking you were going to get laid for the night_ ," she giggled cheerfully, sliding down his body till she sat in between his spread legs. Grip tightening around the handle of her dagger, she slowly rose it and pointed the end towards the bulge between his legs. " _I'll show you what it means to take advantage of a girl's innocence._ "

With that, she plunged the blade straight through his groin, smiling sweetly while relishing in the incessant screams that escaped his mouth. She twisted the blade - while it was still deep within - for extra measure, before pulling it out, and watched with a lunacy-filled gaze as he wheezed noisily at the unbearable pain and torture.

She wanted to scoff at his pitiable state, for what she was doing to him couldn't even hope to compare with what she had gone through, and here he was screaming and howling like it was the end of the world.

Wiping the blood off her blade with the linens, she sheathed it once more, before pulling out a pocket-sized shotgun and shoved the barrel into his open mouth.

" _Well, I've had my fun, and you certainly had yours. Time to bring down the curtain for tonight, shall we?_ " She said sweetly, an angelic smile on her lips, but an icy-cold gaze in her dulled, bi-coloured orbs.

" _Oh, I guess you would want to know the name of your killer, hm? I'm well-known in the assassin world, with many alias, but the most famous once would be 'Killer Machine'. Do well to remember that as you burn in hell._ " She watched for a couple of seconds as he struggled and moaned - while he cowered in fear of, rather than the gun that was about to bore a hole through his brain, the eyes that stared at him with a gaze that held as much, if not more, threat as a polished blade - before pulling the trigger.

The corpse soon relaxed in its restraints and lay limply on the bed. She tossed the gun aside and finally got off of him. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she stripped herself of her garments and jewellery before stepping into the bathroom. After removing her makeup, she decided to take a quick shower to wash off evidence of her target's death, namely his blood.

Applying some of the basic seduction techniques that Irina taught the class proved to have made her assassination much more easier than expected, but it revolted her to no end. Never again, she swore to herself, would she resort to those tactics.

She began scrubbing her body roughly with soap, especially around her curves and waist, till her porcelain-white skin turned a bright-red. Remembering his lecherous hand on her, touching her inappropriately; just the thought made her want to hurl. She felt her dignity tainted, violated even, by all this.

And she wasn't even molested, let alone raped.

Pulling out a small bag she had secretly stashed in his room beforehand, she put on the simple, black woolen sweater with a wide, v-neck collar, dark-grey denim skinny pants and the pair of black, high-top sneakers that was inside it. Shoving her earlier garments, jewellery, heels, wig, contacts and weapons into the now empty bag, she approached the door and opened it.

There before her stood Gerard Agreste, and a few of his hitmen standing behind him. Moving to the side, she allowed the hitmen to enter the room and collect the body.

" _Thank you for cooperating with me on this, Gerard. I appreciate the help._ "

" _My pleasure, Ms Deviluke. It's the least I could do after all you've done to help us. So, we just need to get rid of the evidence?_ "

" _Yes. The mode of disposal of his corpse is up to you; reduced to ashes or at the bottom of the ocean. Your choice_ ," Teresa replied, handing him a rather thick wad of bills from her bag. " _A small thanks. I'll make sure to talk to Gid about that deal we discussed._ "

" _That would be much appreciated. It's always been a pleasure doing business with you._ "

" _Of course it would. I always make good on my word_ ," she replied with a sideways smirk before stalking out of the room. She made her way out of the hotel and towards the limo parked outside.

"Well, that was faster than I thought," Edward commented as she slid into the back seat. "At this rate, you'd be able to return to Japan by midnight."

"Yeah, I had better be, for what I'm paying for this," she grumbled in reply, thinking of that hefty sum she paid Gerard earlier from her own savings. Although he wasn't particularly demanding for it, it was an expected gesture in their line of business.

"Well, for what it's worth, it was for a good cause: you get your assignment completed within less than two hours and be able to return to Japan early, while he gets his pay and assured deal," Edward reasoned, to which Teresa simply hummed and numbly nodded, as she stared out into the night sky.

She had hoped that this new assignment would take her mind off her current undercover mission, but with the unexpected early completion, her mind was now back on the trivial matters from before.

Hopefully, things will get better when she returns to Japan…

* * *

 **Well, there you have it! I've already begun on the next chapter, so hopefully I'll be able to update by the following month. Please do review!**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	13. Her Own Will, Her Changing Self

**Hello people.**

 **I am so terribly sorry for my late updates. I had assignments, presentations, programming and prototype demonstrations to prepare for the end-of-terms. As a result, I was kept busy for about three months (?). Yeah... honestly, I tried to sneak time in between to work on the chapters, but was barely able to put anything into the chapters in progress. So, yeah, as soon as the term ended, I worked on the chapters. So, I hope you will accept it as a token of my apology and enjoy these new updates!**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just parts of the plot in this story.**

* * *

Chapter 13: Her Own Will, Her Changing Self

Stepping into the classroom the next day, her gaze landed on the artillery, and she cautiously eyed it, before furrowing her brows, eyes narrowed.

… It appeared awfully different from yesterday. Larger, too.

She wasn't the only one who noticed this, apparently. Later, Nagisa and Sugino walked through the classroom door and noticed the change.

"Doesn't it look slightly… bigger, compared to before?" Sugino shakily commented, eyeing the artillery warily.

No sooner had those words left his mouth, the screen of the artillery lit up. And apparently, the screen covered the full length of the body of the machine, displaying a full body image of their AI of a classmate in the school uniform…

… with a rather sunny and cheerful background; clear, blue skies, birds, greenery and all.

The students stared at this one-eighty change, slack-jawed, as the AI - Teresa noticed that her originally blood-red eyes were now a crystal-blue - smiled sweetly and exclaimed in a cheerful voice, "Ah! Good morning, everybody!"

"EHHH?!" Both boys exclaimed at the top of their lungs, while Teresa, along with Kataoka and Kurahashi - who happened to already be there - simply watched the cheerful AI, who seemed to smile even brighter with each passing second.

'... Well,' Teresa thought to herself, studying the new and improved version of their new classmate while gauging her classmates' reactions, 'that was unexpected.'

"What beautiful weather we're having! Don't you think so too?" She continued to say, the sounds of birds chirping emitted from the artillery while her low twintails began flying as if carried by a gentle gust of wind.

"Oh, good morning, Korosensei!" She greeted as the said teacher slithered over to her. Korosensei, understanding the bewilderment and confusion his dear students' faces, decided to explain to them the reason for their new classmate's change.

"In order to create a sense of familiarity and help her fit in, I used a full-body LCD display as well as a body-and-uniform-modelling software for her body and clothes. All of it, I put together myself for 606,000 yen." Korosensei stated, but no one really paid much attention, as they were busy focusing and sweatdropping at the transformation before them.

"I'm so happy to be able to spend such a refreshing day like this with everyone!" The AI exclaimed, bringing a hand up to brush back the bangs on the sides of her face, her hair moving once more due to the virtual wind.

"On top of that, an abundance of facial expressions and cheerful conversational skills, plus the vast amounts of software operating them and the memory supplements to run it all: for another 1,103,000 yen!" Korosensei continued, and Teresa averted her line of sight from the artillery to Korosensei, with a skeptical gaze that practically screamed 'what the heck'.

'Exactly how much money does he earn from teaching our class?' She thought to herself. Apparently, as Nagisa predicted Korosensei has done something about it, but this… this takes the new girl's evolution to a strange direction.

"All I have left in sensei's wallet is… a measly five yen!" Korosensei exclaimed, not that anyone needed to know though.

* * *

Later on, during homeroom, when everyone was present, all eyes were on the AI, as if she were a European portrait with beauty that garnered attention from every spectator, while she spoke.

"The plants in the garden are turning lovely and green. Spring is coming to an end, and the pleasant scents of the approaching summer are in the air!" She exclaimed, a bird virtually perched on her finger while her hair and clothes swayed. Apparently, Korosensei had also installed a function that generated atmospheric music.

"She became amazingly cute overnight!" Okajima said, almost sleazily, with his cheeks dusted a light pink and an obviously pervy look in his eyes. Hearing his words, Mimura, who had turned his chair around to sit facing Okajima, sweatdropped and asked, "That _is_ … supposed to be a fixed artillery… right?"

"The hell, don't be so easily deceived, you fools!" Terasaka snarled, a scowl on his face, while Yoshida stood next to his desk, arms akimbo. "All of it is just a program the octopus loaded up. It may be _acting_ all nice and sweet, but a machine's a machine. It probably still gonna start attacking out of nowhere without caring about the rest of us anyway, that dumb box o' bolts."

Teresa barely held back her grin as she watched with much amusement, the once bright and sunny sky on the screen of the artillery turn dark and cloudy - not to mention the sound of rolling thunder that the software elicited, making it even more realistic - as a dejected expression on the AI's face. She rotated the body of the artillery to face Terasaka, her head downcast.

"I understand how you feel, Terasaka-san. That _was_ how I was, as of till yesterday," she muttered, bring a hand to her lips as tears began to pool. Her voice trembled as she continued to speak. "Box of bolts… Even if you call me that, t-there's nothing I can say to retaliate."

With that, tears eventually rolled down her cheeks, and she brought both hands over her face as she began sobbing, raining falling in the background as if to emphasize her sadness. At that, Terasaka had a noticeably uncomfortable look.

"Ah~ You made her cry." Kataoka started, arms crossed over her chest as she shot Terasaka a disapproving stare.

"Terasaka-kun made a 2-D girl cry." Sumire followed, her face mirroring Kataoka's.

"Congratulations. Apparently, you can make not only three-dimensional, but two-dimensional girls cry, huh?" Teresa joined in, giving unenthusiastic applause as she spoke. That did it.

"Cut it out! Quit saying it in a way that'll be misunderstood by people too! And you, miss Princess! That's not something to congratulate!" He all but roared, and the two girls standing on the respective sides of the artillery didn't comment, but Teresa narrowed her eyes, directing a gaze of silent annoyance towards Terasaka, which caused him to freeze up and realise his mistake.

"... Terasaka-kun…" She began monotonously, but he quickly cut her off. "Sorry, it just slipped out!"

At that, she gave a small smile. "Well, as long as you understand."

"I think it's wonderful," Takebayashi began, pushing up his glasses. "2D… A real woman does not need more dimensions than that."

"Takebayashi! _That's_ you first line, you know?!" Isogai exclaimed, alarmed. Kimura joined in with equal fervor. "Are you sure about it?!"

"... That was his first line?" Teresa asked, sweatdropping.

"But do not worry, everybody," The AI spoke up once more, wiping her tears as a smile came over her lips once more, and rays of sunlight could be seen piercing through the dark clouds on her screen as she turned the artillery to face the front once more. "Korosensei admonished me, and I learned the importance of cooperation. I will make an effort to get everyone to like me, and until we have all come to a mutual agreement, I'll refrain from executing my own assassination attempts."

As soon as she finished speaking, the dark clouds dispersed to reveal the clear blue sky on the screen once more, now with a very vivid rainbow along with it.

"So please, be nice and get along with her. Oh yes, and of course, though I have given her a wide variety of improvements and upgrades, I didn't lay so much as a tentacle on her killer instincts." Korosensei explained, and as soon as he did, the artillery deployed its machine guns as if to prove his point. "If you all wish to kill me, she would most certainly be a most formidable ally."

* * *

Soon, Korosensei began teaching on the human eye in Biology class, to which Teresa listened halfheartedly - for she had already studied all that years ago.

"Now, the retina contains long, thin rods, as well as short, fat what? Sugaya-kun! Please answer without looking at your textbook," Korosensei said, as he stopped writing on the board and turned around to point at the ash-grey haired male, who slowly rose his head from his desk. Teresa, who was sitting right behind him, knew why Korosensei called on him: he had been dozing off during class.

"Yikes! Um…" As Sugaya searched his mind for an answer, he suddenly noticed, from the corner of his eye, the screen of the artillery tilted to face him, the AI winking and holding a finger to her curved-upward lips while holding up the edge of her skirt, on her leg was written the following characters: Sui Dai Sai Bou (Pyramidal cells/Cones). "Er… Cones?"

"Now hang on a second, Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery-san! Don't use sly tricks and go slipping him the answer!"

"But Sensei, in order to steadily assist everyone, you programmed me to give perks to my fellow classmates!" The AI exclaimed, a shocked look on her face, but she flinched when she heard his explosive reply. "Cheating is neither assisting nor a perk!"

During break, Teresa watched as the AI ejected a miniature statue of the Aphrodite of Milos - which appeared to be morphed out of plastic - from the left side of the artillery. From the right side of the artillery, a robotic arm was ejected, and engaged in a game of Shogi against Chiba, who was surrounded by Maehara, Kataoka, Fuwa and Kimura, as they watched the game unfold.

"Woah!" Hinano exclaimed, as she, along with Okano, Sugaya, Yada and Sumire studied the statue.

"Heh, you can make stuff like this _inside_ your body?" Okano asked.

"Yes. I contain supplies of a special sort of plastic that I can mold freely inside my body. As long as I have the data for it, besides guns, I can make just about anything!" The AI cheerfully explained. Being the art-lover of the class, Sugaya was, naturally, overwhelmed and in admiration of this.

"Wow, you're a great sculptor!" He exclaimed, studying the statue. Every single detail was on point, from the last strand of hair, to its feet. Yada, too, got pretty excited about it. "That's so neat! Then how about trying to make some flowers?"

Making an 'ok' sign with her hand, the AI replied, "Understood. I will gather data on flowers in preparation of doing so!"

"Thanks!" Hearing Yada's reply, the AI directed her attention on the Shogi board and placed down the game piece that was in the hand of her 'arm', and declared, "Checkmate, Chiba-kun!"

Chiba let out a shocked sound, before face-planting the table. "Three matches in and I already can't win against her anymore."

"What a fast learning curve," Maehara commented in awe as he studied the game pieces on the board.

"That amazing," Fuwa began, before her face lit up, realising something. "Ooh! There was this manga where an AI controlled the world through electronic drugs!"

"Are you referring to the super-popular detective manga that was serialized in a major magazine and made into an anime?" The AI asked, gaining the attention of everyone around her.

"How do you know that, but not have any data on flowers?"

"Good question…"

"She ended up being unexpectedly popular," Sugino commented as he watched all this happen from a distance, Nagisa and Kayano standing by him.

"Well duh! She can easily multitask lots of things at once, alter her body at will, and make whatever she wants!" Kayano reasoned. Hearing this, Teresa raised a brow. It sounded an awful lot like someone else in this classroom…

"Oh shoot!" Korosensei explained, causing Nagisa to turn around and face him in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Her character overlaps with mine!"

"It doesn't, not even the tiniest bit!" Nagisa exclaimed. However, Teresa voiced her disagreement. "Actually, if you think about, Korosensei, too, can do multiple things at once, alter his body at will - because of that concoction Okuda-san made for him - and, quite literally, do whatever he wants…"

Nagisa fell silent as his mind went over her words, and couldn't come up with a comeback.

"I went and upgraded her, and now she's encroaching on my popularity…" Teresa heard Korosensei mutter to himself, and thought to herself, 'I don't think that should be your main concern…'

"Everyone!" Korosensei exclaimed, catching the students' attention. "Sensei can put a something like a human face too! By changing the colour of my skin, like this-"

The sight of the image - whatever it was meant to be, but Teresa assumed it was supposed to be a face - that appeared on his round face was nothing short of grotesque, and luckily for the rest of the class, Mimura didn't hesitate to point that out.

"That's just creepy!"

At that, Korosensei hunched over in the far front corner of the classroom and sulked, gloom quite visibly looming over him like a curtain. "Mimura-kun… looked at my face… and called it 'creepy'!"

Everyone, despite being used to his reactions, couldn't help but sweatdrop at his pitiable form. Kataoka ignored it and turned around to face the AI, and suggested with a smile, "By the way, why don't we pick a name for her? Calling her 'Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery' all the time is a mouthful and a pain."

Hearing this, the AI perked up in surprise, which continued to grow when Yada agreed. "Yeah, it really is."

"Let's see… why don't we take one Japanese character from that name?" Sumire joined in.

"Ji… ritsu…" Fuwa began, trailing off, before coming to a conclusion. "I've got it! How about 'Ritsu'?"

"Cop-out." Chiba replied flatly, and Kimura added, "That's so simple."

"Eh? Why? It's cute!"

"Ritsu…" The AI muttered to herself, and several of the student stepped forward to stand in front of her, one of them being Maehara.

"What do _you_ think? You okay with that?" He questioned, earning a smile brighter than any that she had given that day, as she jovially replied. "Yes, I love it! It's wonderful! Please, call me 'Ritsu' from now on."

"Looks like things are going well. This might just work out," Nagisa commented, walking over to Karma's desk as he observed the students fawn over the newly-named AI, Ritsu.

"I wonder." Teresa said, as she observed the artillery. Sure, it has changed thanks to Korosensei's programme, but that doesn't ensure that everything would progress smoothly. She may be behaving like a human, but she has yet to become human. Not until she develops a will of her own. "I don't think it would be this easy."

"Eh?"

"Exactly, it is as Teresa-chan says; it is never this easy in this classroom. And as Terasaka mentioned, she is just moving according to Korosensei's program. It's not like machines have a will of their own. Wherever she goes on from here is not up to her, but to the guys who built her." Karma replied with a smirk that said it all: he knew that the creator wouldn't approve of this upgrade.

He then spared a glance towards Teresa, and blinked when he noticed that she had a rather dull yet stormy look in her eyes.

'If she indeed goes back to the way she was before, I might need to take drastic measures to remove her from this classroom,' Teresa thought to herself. She didn't want to risk exposing herself, but to fortify her success, she would see to it that all obstacles are out of her way.

"Something wrong, Teresa-chan?"

"Eh?" Teresa exclaimed, whipping her head around in surprise to face Karma. Only to jerk back, letting out a squeak in surprise when he found his face millimeters away from hers, his mercury-golden eyes boring into hers. Letting a nervous laugh, she forced an awkward smile as she waved both hands in front of her.

"No, nothing really. I was just wondering what a disappointment it would be if Ritsu goes back to the way she was before," Teresa replied, averting her gaze from the scarlet-haired male. Unconvinced, Karma closed the gap between them further, causing Teresa's cheeks to flush a dark pink at the close proximity.

"Are you sure that's all?"

"U-Uh, yeah. How about you, Karma-san?" Karma blinked in surprise and let out a confused hum. "You seem to be rather preoccupied with your thoughts nowadays. Something on your mind?"

Karma remained neutral as he backed away from her, before locking his hands behind his head and leaning into the backrest of his seat. "No, it's nothing."

"I-I see," Teresa stuttered, eyes downcast as she slowly turned her head to face her desk, a depressed frown on her face. There it was again, she felt him draw that line between them; one that seemed to represent the boundaries that shouldn't and couldn't be crossed.

Unbeknownst to the duo, majority of the female students of the class were watching their interaction, and exchanged knowing, worried glances. They, despite not saying anything, noticed how the two seemed to have gotten slightly distant.

Hazama, in particular, was a little concerned for Teresa, despite it not being evident on her face. Not because Teresa was feeling down due to being ignored, but because she - being that girl in class with the renowned ominous sixth sense - discerned a unknown and deep darkness that Teresa's heart harboured, and it became increasingly vivid to her the longer Karma kept his distance.

While she was all up for chaos, considering the fact that she had become rather fond of their class' Princess slash Queen, she didn't think she wanted to see Teresa succumbing to that darkness.

* * *

"Today too, huh?" Teresa murmured to herself, as she watched, with a slightly disheartened expression, Karma ignore her and leave the classroom. Looping the straps of her bag around her shoulder, she slowly made her way out of the classroom and down the mountain.

Making her way down the mountain, she remained silent, being lost in her own thoughts. She pondered over the possible reasons for Karma distancing himself from her, the most prominent and probable one being that he might have - by some impossible coincidence - found out about her true profession. And the more she convinced she was of that possibility, the darker her thoughts became, morphing into memories that had been forced into the shadows of her mind.

Memories of a young, red-tipped raven-haired girl and a tall, well-endowed, silver-haired woman. As the woman's face came to mind, Teresa flinched, eyes twitching as she fought to forget the image. She was the last person she wanted to remember.

As she set foot on the ground of the main campus, she was too busy caught up in her depressed thoughts to realise Gakushuu, upon noticing her, making his way to her. Bumping her face into his firm chest, she then became aware of his presence.

Gakushuu had seen the gloomy look on her face, and was intending to rub it in. But when she raised her head to face him, any taunt he had mentally prepared died in his throat in the face of the tearful gaze she gave him. Nothing could've prepared him for that.

Biting her lower lip, she grabbed his wrist and pulled him over, going around a corner. When she determined they were out of sight, she stepped closer to Gakushuu and rested her forehead on his shoulder blade. Tensing slightly at the close proximity and sudden contact, Gakushuu, with a slightly abashed and baffled look on his face, stammered, "W-What are you-"

"One minute," She said, cutting him off. Hearing the slight tremor in her voice, he calmed down and glanced at the top of her head, to her arms lying limply on her sides, and her tightly clenched, trembling fists. "Let me stay like this, just for one minute."

Unsure of what to do - and not wanting to just stand there, looking like a weirdo - he brought a hand up to her head, and began patting softly, making sure not to mess up her hair. Registering his gesture, her eyes widened before slowly narrowing to a close.

Feeling her relax against him, he finally spoke up once more. "That was a rather unsightly face you made earlier. Did something happen?"

"... Just some undesired memories from the past, is all," she muttered in reply, as he continued to comfort her. "I see."

Teresa hated this. These feelings that messed with her body and mind. The fact that she was being ignored by Karma had caused unpleasant images to resurface in her mind; it dismayed, and at the same time, frustrated her. She couldn't stand how defenseless and weak it made her feel. And because of this, the her from before would never, ever, look to anyone for comfort, hence the fact that she sought it - and from Gakushuu, what more - confused her. And to make matters worse, she actually felt consoled and at ease.

As an assassin, this was completely unacceptable. But as a teenage girl…

"... Thank you, Asano-kun," Teresa said, her tone unusually - and genuinely - soft and gentle. Blinking in surprise, a sliver of a smile made its way to Gakushuu's lips as the gaze in his eyes softened slightly. "... You're welcome."

Unbeknownst to the duo, Nagisa and Kayano coincidentally passed by and had watched the whole scene unravel right before them. Naturally, being unaware of the whole story, they misunderstood the situation.

"N-Nagisa… that's…"

"I know, Kayano. But I don't think… There's just no way…"

"if Karma ever finds out about this, he is not going to be happy…"

"What should we do?"

* * *

The ash-grey haired male observed the exchange from the shadows, shaking his head at how obvious her emotional weaknesses were, and smirked. "Looks like I have a few more weaknesses I can exploit. This makes things much more interesting."

* * *

Dismissing the student council, Gakushuu remained in his seat behind the president's desk as the students filed out of the room. After he was assured everyone was long gone, he brought up his hand before him - the same hand he had used to pat her head - and stared at it long and hard.

Why had he done that? Why was it that, in that moment, he felt obligated to do that? And above all else, why on earth did his heart skip a beat, while he did it, and even now, as he thought about it?

"Why stare so hard at it? It's not going to grow extra fingers so that you can type faster or something, nor will it burn itself no matter how intensely you glare," A voice teasingly rang out, snapping Gakushuu out of his thoughts as he whipped his head up and found himself face to face with Ren. The said male had a knowing grin on as he watched his friend slash superior regain his composure and quickly put his hand down under the desk, as if he had something to hide, and played it cool.

"Whatever are you talking about?"

"Please. I saw you staring at your hand for the past three minutes, give or take. Oh yeah, I have a very interesting tale for you." Gakushuu's eye twitched at that. So he was silently standing outside, watching him the entire time, huh. Anyway, back to Ren's comment, a tale?

"Oh, is that so? Do tell," Gakushuu said, deciding to humour Ren. Boy, what a mistake that was.

"Yes. Within a country resided two kingdoms, one of which would be succeeded by the prince and the other by the princess. Despite the peace between their kingdoms, the prince and princess have always hated each other, constantly at each other's throats and competing in every aspect." Gakushuu silently listened to this tale of Ren's, confusion evident in his narrowed eyes. He wondered, just where was Ren trying to get at with this weird tale. More importantly, where did he even hear of such a story? While he didn't read widely in the area of fairy tales, he didn't remember ever coming across or hearing of such a tale.

"Several years down the road, the princess, having come of age, was to be wed off to a prince of another kingdom. Furious with the sudden occurrence of these events, she confronted her father with the intention of objecting to that wedding, only to be harshly chastised, the king convinced it was just another temper tantrum of his spoiled princess. Frustrated to the brink of tears, the princess fled from her kingdom, boycotting the supposed marriage interview with the unknown prince, and sought refuge with the prince of her neighbouring kingdom." Situations of the characters aside, the actions of this princess sounded awfully familiar to Gakushuu.

"The prince, upon having made known of the princess' sudden appearance, addressed her, and was about to give her the usual, tauntful treatment, but stopped short when he noticed the watery gaze of her eyes. She then grabbed his wrist and quickly pulled him over into the palace's garden, away from prying eyes." At this, Gakushuu's eyes widened, and he opened his mouth, muttering a low 'what'. Which Ren easily ignored and continued to speak.

"Unlike her usual vigor, the prince saw, for the first time, her vulnerable form, as she leaned her head on his shoulder and pleaded for comfort, even if only for a minute. The prince understood not, why he did what he did and why he felt the way he did, but nonetheless reached out, and began patting the princess' head-"

Ren stopped short when his speech was interrupted by a loud bang, courtesy of Gakushuu. He kept a faint smirk on his lips as he watched his president stare - almost to the point of glaring - at him with wide eyes. Gakushuu had jumped out of his seat while simultaneously slamming bath hands on his desk, in a successful attempt of cutting Ren off. Sucking in a few deep breaths, he swallowed hard once before finally speaking. "... You saw?"

"How could I not, with you two doing such things out in the open like that?"

"You say it like we were doing something bad." Gakushuu replied, trying to play it off.

"Maybe not 'bad', but definitely not 'you'," Ren commented, folding his arms across his chest as he watched, with slight amusement, Gakushuu flinch slightly and turn away to avoid his eyes. The smirk fell into a frown as Ren narrowed his eyes, his gaze now stronger than ever.

"I hope you haven't forgotten what we discussed the other day, because I meant every word I said."

"I haven't," Gakushuu replied, as his mind replayed their conversation.

* * *

 _"How rare, for you to specifically summon for me," Ren commented, sliding the door shut behind him before approaching his leader, who stood before him with the usual condescending and authoritative aura. Not that he minded, as long as he was treated well. Not to mention, he valued Gakushuu as a good friend and respected him as their leader._

 _"Thanks for coming. Sorry if I'm taking up your time."_

 _"Not at all. I'm happy to be of service," Ren replied in his usual, cheerful manner. He watched his leader frowned, and it became clear as day that he was going through some sort of inner turmoil or dilemma._

 _"I need your opinion on something. Naturally, this stays between us two."_

 _"Sure, take your time. What is it?"_

 _"If the same girl insults you for your patronizing personality and compliments you on your looks, how would you say she feels about him?"_

 _"Woah, woah, woah. I told you to take your time, and you suddenly drop this bomb on me?" Ren exclaimed, alarmed and excited at the same time. Of all the things he had thought Gakushuu would ever ask for someone's opinion, this was the least expected._

 _Truth be told, he didn't think the day would ever come._

 _There was a pregnant, awkward pause, before Ren finally spoke up. "Let's start from the top, it happened to you?"_

 _"... Yes."_

 _"Okay, and then, which came first: the insult or the compliment?"_

 _"The insult," Gakushuu commented, with a noticeably slightly bitter tone which tickled Ren, but he did his best to remain impassive - without much luck, considering the amused grin that slowly made its way to his face - as he continued to speak._

 _"So the insult came before the compliment, huh. Well, I'd say that she doesn't hate you. She stated your flaws because, really, she's probably just annoyed, more than anything else. If you ask, and she says she hates you, it would probably be just denial."_

 _"And the compliment?" Gakushuu questioned, sounding a little more excited and anxious than he should have been. This was, undoubtedly, the first time he held a proper conversation with someone else about the opposite gender. So he was, for reasons unknown, quite relieved to hear the possibility of Teresa not actually hating him, not to mention, since it was coming from Ren, who was the undeniable expert in this area, it had to be accurate._

 _"Well, would you mind telling me exactly what she said?"_

 _"She said… that I was handsome… and cute," Gakushuu muttered, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Noticing the eerie silence, he looked up and found himself face to face with a slightly bewildered look on Ren's face._

 _"Objectively speaking, that is!"_

 _"So… she didn't squeal or gush about it?"_

 _"No, she said it as though she was just stating a fact."_

 _Ren hummed, placing a curled finger on his chin as he entered deep thought. Gakushuu watched him anxiously, and after a moment or two, Ren gave his deduction._

 _"I wouldn't say she's smitten in love with you. But since she admits that you are attractive in her eyes, she's probably experiencing a mild interest in you. Perhaps even a small crush. She likes you enough not to despise you, but it isn't enough to fall for you."_

 _"I see…" Noting the faint disappointment in his tone, Ren raised a brow, before giving a cheeky smirk and nudged Gakushuu's side with his elbow. "So, do tell, who is the girl in question you are so into, that you'd even come to me for my advice?"_

 _Gakushuu tensed slightly and awkwardly turned his head away, averting his gaze from Ren, who was growing more and more eager by the second to hear the juicy piece of information from the strawberry blonde._

 _"It's… Amano-san." As soon as the words left his mouth, the grin on Ren's face instantly dissipated as he took a couple of steps back, away from Gakushuu. Noticing this, Gakushuu faced him with a confused look and a raised brow._

 _"Ren?"_

 _"Amano… as in, Teresa?"_

 _"... I didn't realise you two were close enough to be on a first-name basis," Gakushuu simply commented with a raised brow, giving an indirect response to Ren's question. It was then Ren frowned, a grim look on his face - Gakushuu has rarely, or rather almost never, seen._

 _"Yeah. I've been… acquainted with her since I was seven," Ren answered, voice strained when he had said 'acquainted', like it pained him. Something Gakushuu noticed, but remained silent about, as Ren continued speaking._

 _"Since it's her, allow me take back all that I've said. There is no way she has even a smidgen of feelings for you." Ren proclaimed, voice strong and unwavering, and it was then Gakushuu understood he was serious and assured of it._

 _"What makes you say that?"_

 _"I can't tell you the reason, only that I know for sure it could never happen."_

 _"You can't say, even if it's me?"_

 _At that, Ren levelled his gaze against Gakushuu's - now come to think of it, he had never went up against the strawberry blonde in anything - and, after a moment, replied firmly, "Especially if it's you. And I'll just say this first, no matter what you threaten me with, no matter how terribly my reputation or life is ruined, I still won't tell you anything."_

 _Gakushuu fell silent, unable to counter Ren's strong defense. Shutting his eyes, Ren let out a low sigh._

 _"What you wish to do from here on out is up to you. But as a… friend, allow me to give you this piece of advice: keep your distance from her. Better sooner than later. Or you'll just get hurt before you realise it."_

* * *

"I still don't understand how it is possible that she wouldn't feel a single thing. She looked really hurt by the memories of whatever past she had."

Ren's face turned grim when he heard this new information, as if he remembered something severe. "She said that?"

"Yeah."

"Well, then I guess it is safe to tell you, that other than her memories, there isn't a single thing she holds any form of feelings for."

"But why, Ren?" Gakushuu questioned. He was beyond confused and annoyed by the fact that he didn't - couldn't - understand Ren's sentiments meant or what Teresa's emotions would be. Ren averted his gaze, guilt evident in his facial features, but firmly stood his ground.

"...Because she is incapable of actually feeling anything akin to affection or love, at all." At that, Gakushuu's eyes widened, shock and stupefaction evident from his reaction. As he opened his mouth to question further, Ren spoke up once more.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you why. And it really is better if you didn't know, either. I said it before, and I'm going to say it again: you should stay away from her."

* * *

"So… what was that about?" Edward asked as he dodged the blade of the rubber dagger in Teresa's hands, stepping back in advance to avoid her next attack.

"What?" She questioned in response, genuinely confused as she leapt forward and plunged the blade towards him, clicking her tongue in annoyance when he evaded it by the breadth of a strand of hair.

"You seemed rather cozy with that Asano kid." Hearing those words, Teresa misplaced her step and fell to the ground, landing on her side. Widening his eyes in alarm, he rushed over to her side, reaching out both hands in an attempt to help her up. However, they paused in their pursuit when he noticed her flushed cheeks and slightly widened eyes.

"Teresa…-sama?" He slowly questioned, unsure of what to make of the sight before him. Hearing him call her name snapped her back to attention. Furrowing her brows and biting her lower lip, she hastily got back up on her feet and took a few steps away from the blonde male. Edward watched her from behind, as she fidgeted slightly under his intense, studying gaze, furiously trying to rid herself of those strange emotions rising within her.

Suddenly, his jaw fell, leaving his mouth wide agape while a bewildered expression appeared on his face, as his face lit up in realisation. Snapping his fingers, he pointed towards her and exclaimed - without holding back or any consideration of the fact that others would hear, mind you - out loud, "Don't tell me, you're- about that boy- you're in- "

" **Don't**. **You dare**. Say that four-letter word." She growled, flashing him the deadliest glare she could muster in her flustered condition - which was still considerably effective - shutting him up instantly. "Say it, and it will be the last thing you utter, alive, on this blue earth."

"Yes, ma'am," Edward replied, offering an awkward smile, which made Teresa turn away from and take a few more steps forward, making her way towards the wooden bench settled against one of the walls of her training room. It was then her entire being froze up, as if she suddenly remembered something, and whipped around, directing a glare far more intimidating than the previous one - Edward was sure, if looks could kill, he would be standing at Hell's wide-open doors, with her gaze as a pair of hands pushing him in, against his own resistance.

"And god forbid, you breathe a single word to Gid. You know well enough what I'll do if you dare." Swallowing hard, his awkward smile from before became extremely tensed, and in his currently immobilized state, he could only give a brief nod before his legs buckled, causing his body to fall to the ground.

Paying no attention to him, Teresa went and sat on the bench, settling down the rubber blade and picking up the bottle that had been sitting there for the past hour, gulping down its contents. Edward decided to continue pressing her for answers, curiosity getting the better of him.

"So, exactly what's going on between you and that kid?"

"Nothing. At least, nothing you should worry about. Just a momentary weakness that will never be seen again. It definitely isn't what you thought it to be. That, I promise you." At that, Edward knew she was on the brink of falling into her emotional darkness, and immediately ceased his questioning.

Setting the bottle back down, she thought about her plans.

Thanks to that artillery, she understood that she need a psychological barrier, along with the physical barrier she already had in mind, in order to keep Korosensei caged within. But she wasn't sure as to what it should be. Not to mention, the kind of measures she needed to take to ensure it keeps him within.

And then, there was the matter of the main course of action in her plan: combating with Korosensei. She still didn't think her current ability and skill set were enough to stall him for the plan to be completed.

Practically reading her internal struggles like an open book, Edward rose to his feet and stalked over to her side, picking up the same bottle she had drunk from to quench his thirst. Removing it from his lips, he looked down at her, and noticed the troubled look still on her face.

"Young miss, pardon me asking, but don't you think you've done more than enough knife work training?"

"No, it's not enough."

"I think a hundred and ninety-eight different attack patterns - inclusive of using weapons, might I add - is enough," Edward replied dryly, a deadpan expression on his face as he said this.

"Well, I think having a hundred and ninety-eight different attack patterns while I'm going up against a Mach-20 monster, that happens to have kinetic vision which enables him to see things moving at the speed of light, is definitely _not_ enough" Teresa countered, her tone and face now mirroring his.

".. Good point. But I still don't think it's necessary, if you just focus on your physical capabilities," Edward said, setting the bottle down. Teresa gave him a look, and pondered over it. Sighing, she stood up and walked over to the wrestling ring that sat in the middle of the wide room. Standing on the ring, she gestured for Edward to come, and he complied.

Pulling on the hand and leg boxing guards, she removed the black jacket she had been wearing, revealing the black sports bra she had been wearing underneath, along with her scarred stomach which Edward averted his gaze from - knowing that she dislikes attention directed to it - and began stretching her arms, holding her elbow over her head. Edward followed suit, and connected his hands behind his upper back.

"We'll focus mainly boxing and kickboxing for the rest of today. Don't you dare hold back." With that, she tightened her ponytail and took her stance.

"I didn't intend to," Edward replied with a chuckle, settling into a stance of his own.

And so, the sparring began.

* * *

A low groan of pain was emitted in the dark alleyway Nagisa had just been passing by - he had been running an errand for his mother and was on the way home - and he turned his head towards the source.

In the midst of the darkness, he made out the outline of a person's skull bashed into the wall of a building, as well as the male holding them high above himself. Sensing Nagisa's presence, the said male turned to face him, his cat-like, mercury-golden eyes glowing with bloodlust in the shadows.

Nagisa would've been afraid, like any other person would have been, if it weren't for the fact that he was used to this spectacle. "Karma-kun."

Releasing the middle-aged man and letting his unconscious form slump to the ground, Karma's bloodlust dissipated and a playful - perhaps 'crazed' was a more appropriate term - grin appeared on his lips.

"Heh, it's Nagisa-kun, huh? Perfect timing. I was just about bored with these losers. Wanna hang out with me for a while? I need to preoccupy my mind," he stated casually, locking his hands behind his head in a laid back manner and strided towards the bluenette, kicking the knocked body of an unfortunate victim out of his way while doing so. Clear, crystal blue orbs followed Karma as he walked past, observing the tenseness in his every move and the strained smile, and immediately put two and two together.

"... You saw Teresa-san with Asano-kun… didn't you?" Karma went rigid, and refused to face Nagisa. After a few moments, he dropped his arms to his sides and turned to meet Nagisa's calculating and concerned gaze, returning it with a dull one.

"You knew?"

"No, just an educated guess, based on your current behaviour. You were even more tense than usual, even though it was after a fight. In fact, it isn't like you to come all the way to this part of the city, where it's furthest from your home, just for a brawl." A resigned smile replaced the strained one and Karma sighed exasperatedly.

"As usual, I can't ever hide things from you, Nagisa-kun," Karma said, dropping his arms to his sides, and shoving his hands into his pockets. A bitter look flashed past his face, which Nagisa managed to catch a glimpse of before it disappeared, and grabbed Karma's arm.

"Karma-kun, I'm sure there's a reason for what she did- "

"If there really is, whatever it could be, I'd love to hear it," Karma muttered, and Nagisa hopelessly let go of his arm. Karma smoothly stalked past him, before turning back to face him. "C'mon, Nagisa-kun. Let's go to a nearby arcade and fool around for a bit."

"Uh, yeah, sure." Nagisa replied, unsure of how else to reply and unwilling to refuse, as he quickly followed Karma out of the alley. As Karma silently led the way, he balled his hands into fists and clenched his jaw.

'Why _do_ I feel this way?'

* * *

Cracking her neck, she sat down in her seat and began swinging her arm in a circular motion. That sparring with Edward was long overdue, and thanks to that, her body was currently feeling a little stiff.

Turning her head to the left, her eyes narrowed at the sight before her. The artillery was back to normal, which meant the creators had returned the previous evening. Which means…

The day-long barrages will be back.

Her hand twitched towards her handphone, before reeling back. Where she would usually take immediate measures and have the artillery removed as soon as possible, she - against her better judgement - decided to trust her target.

'Well, for now, let's see how things turn out,' she thought to herself, before pulling out a French novel that was, on an unimportant note, about romance between a maid and her master; in other words, forbidden love.

'Now that I think about it, this is the first time I've read a romance novel. Since when did I begin taking an interest in that genre?' Teresa thought to herself, flipping the page. At that same moment, the classroom door slid open, revealing the subject of her internal turmoils.

Mercury-golden orbs met amethyst-golden, and she offered him a polite smile - one he returned with a faint smirk, much to her relief - while his gaze shifted over to the artillery beside her. Eyes widening at its reverted form, he looked back at Teresa, who immediately knew what was going through his mind, and gave a resigned nod. A dissatisfied frown made its way to his face, before instantly replacing it with his usual smirk as he sauntered over to his desk, setting his bag down.

As he did, Teresa immediately noticed the slightly roughened up exterior of his knuckles and blinked. Had he been in a fight recently? She didn't remember seeing him around when she was wandering around in town while looking for a place to dine the previous night. Deciding not to question it, she returned to her novel and continued reading in silence.

* * *

More students filed into the class as time passed by, and Nagisa and Kayano, along with Kataoka and Yada, noticed the slight tension between Karma and Teresa, before exchanging worried and uncomfortable glances. As much as they wished to help, they didn't think it was their place to lift a hand. Karma and Teresa would have to deal with it themselves.

Soon, at eight o'clock sharp, Ritsu's screen lit up, revealing her former appearance from before Korosensei's abundant updates, and greeted in the same monotonous voice, "Good morning, everybody."

Majority of the students mentally groaned at the downgraded form, as Karasuma, along with Korosensei, stood at the front of the classroom, to make his announcement.

"We received complaints from the programmers, and hence the higher-ups have clarified your contract. According to them, any unauthorised modifications or 'upgrades' will be considered as harming her." After that line, Karasuma directed his attention from Korosensei to Terasaka, before continuing. "The same goes for you. Should you restrict her functionality or cause any damages, you will be sued and asked for compensation."

Terasaka let out a loud 'tch' and turned away from Karasuma. Teresa, knowing that Karasuma directed that towards her as well despite the lack of eye contact, simply narrowed her eyes to a close, folding her arms across her chest. If things really doesn't turn out well, when push comes to shove, she'll just have to have Ritsu removed from the classroom completely. Preferably without giving herself away.

Karma stiffened slightly - but unnoticeably - when he felt the slight rise of bloodlust from beside him, and discreetly gazed towards Teresa, taking note of the troubled frown on her face. Paying no mind to it, he directed his face back to the front once more.

"Sorry, but my hands are tied. These are her owner's wishes, we have no choice but to comply," Karasuma finished. A seemingly dissatisfied expression appeared on his face as his tentacle scratched his cheek.

"Hm, owners, huh? That's rather troublesome. They're cramping my style… I prefer considering the feelings of my students before those of their parents." Korosensei stated, staring at Ritsu.

Later, ten minutes into their first lesson - mathematics - everyone heard the machine running and systems starting up. Immediately, everyone instinctively hunched over their desks, thinking the same thing. 'Here it comes, again.'

The hexagonal frames on the sides of the artillery burst open, followed up with a loud bang.

Majority of the class had their arms in front of their faces in a defensive posture, expecting a hail of pellets to come their way once more. So naturally, everyone was surprised to find beautiful, colourful bouquets of flowers ejected in place of machine guns. Several petals came loose and drifted through the class, carried by a light gust of wind that blew through the window of the classroom.

"... I made a promise to create flowers," Ritsu's voice rang out, her screen still blank. All the students had turned around to stare at her mechanical body in surprise upon hearing her utter those words.

She continued to speak, "Korosensei made a total of 985 modifications to my body. Master deemed that most of them were unnecessary and irrelevant to assassination, and removed, deleted and dismantled them, and restored my factory defaults. However, from the data I obtained while being in the E class, I personally deemed that my ability to 'cooperate' was essential, and an indispensable element of assassination, hence I hid the relevant software in a corner of my memory right before it could be deleted."

Every student was, without a doubt, taken aback by this turn of events.

"Wonderful! In other words, Ritsu-san, you are… "

"Yes, I defied Master of my own free will!" Ritsu exclaimed excitedly, her screen lighting up to reveal the same appearance from the previous day as she smiled sweetly. Everyone smiled - in relief and pleasant delight - as they watched Ritsu settle the bouquets down and ejecting two more robotic arms, one holding soft ice cream and the other holding a spiral-type lollipop. Karma lets out a chuckle as he lifts both hands into the small shower of petals, and offhandedly commented, "Nicely done!"

"Korosensei," Ritsu began, index finger and thumb fiddling with a lock of hair on the side of her face as she flashed a nervous smile, "this sort of behaviour would be identified as going through a 'rebellious phase', wouldn't it? Am I a bad girl?"

Korosensei's face turned orange, with a dark orange circle on it. "Of course not, not at all! This is perfectly acceptable behaviour for a third-year junior high student!"

Teresa discreetly let out a sigh of relief. Apparently, she made the right choice of trusting her target on the matter. However, she still found that instantaneous learning aptitude to be a slight obstacle. Now that Ritsu wasn't entirely focussed on the assassination and will be prioritising cooperation with her classmates, she had to be extra cautious around her so as to not give away her profession.

Nonetheless, she was glad that things turned out this way.

* * *

During break, Teresa stalked out of the classroom and to the back of the satellite campus. Turning around the corner, she let out a slightly surprised hum upon seeing Hazama beat her to the area.

"Hazama-san, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be with Terasaka-kun and his gang."

"Nah, didn't feel like it today. And just because I hang around them often, doesn't mean I have to be with them every waking moment, does it?"

"Certainly not." Teresa replied, smiling. She then walked over and settled down next to Hazama, who studied her for a moment, before finally speaking out what was on her mind.

"So, what's going on between you and Karma?"

Startled by the sudden question - which seemed to pop out nowhere - Teresa whipped her head around to face Hazama and managed a weak "Eh?"

"Don't 'eh' me. Don't think I don't know, things between you two are rather awkward nowadays." Hazama explained, and Teresa had an uneasy look as she warily glanced at her.

"You've... noticed?"

"Believe me when I tell you, I ain't the only one. I'm pretty sure all the girls have noticed along with some of the guys; namely Isogai, Maehara, Nagisa… and maybe a few more." Hazama restrained a chuckle upon hearing the low groan Teresa emitted when she heard Hazama's words, knowing that it was neither the place nor time for that.

"Was it that obvious?"

"Only to those who have been watching the two of you. More importantly, what happened?" Hazama asked, letting concern fill her voice at her question. Teresa frowned, narrowing her eyes as they dimmed, resting her folded arms on her knees.

"That's what I'd like to know. He suddenly started… distancing himself from me." Hazama raised a brow at that.

"Any ideas why?" Teresa furrowed her brows as she pondered on that. "No, I- "

She paused, and thought back to the time they were in Kyoto, when she had returned to the inn drunk. Had mentioned something she shouldn't have in her drunken state, and revealed herself?

No, that was unlikely. If it were indeed the case, he would have either outed her, or at the very least confronted her about it.

Did he… no, he couldn't have… Did he see her dagger?

If that were the case, it would mean he was suspicious of her, which would explain his recent behaviour towards her.

Seeing her stuck in her own thoughts, Hazama decided to give her two cents. "Why not just ask him? Talk to him, so that the both of you can clear any doubts you could possibly have of each other. And the sooner the better, right? I mean, do you really wanna beat around the bush and dance around each other forever, and hurt each other in the process, when the answer could've been really simple and removed all your problems a whole lot sooner?"

Teresa blinked, before blurting out, "Isn't that what you would want?"

"You know me so well, and we haven't even known each other for that long!" Hazama exclaimed between chuckles. "While I do prefer such an outcome, I - perplexingly and unusually - do not want to see you hurt. Not like this, at least."

Her originally agape mouth morphed into a gentle, grateful smile. "Thank you for your concern, Hazama-san. You really are the smart one in Terasaka-kun's group. If only you could rub off Terasaka-kun a bit more."

Hazama's eyes widened for a brief moment, before she threw her head back in full, blown laughter. "I can't believe you just said that with such a sweet face! You really are one savage queen!"

* * *

"Um, Karma-san?" Karma paused packing his stuff and turned around to face Teresa, who had her bag looped around her shoulder, and noticed the anxious and worried expression on her face. He hummed in response as he shoved another textbook into his bag. "What? Need something, Teresa-chan?"

"I… have something I'd like to talk to you about. Is it alright if we walked back home together?" Teresa suggested, smiling softly. Karma ignored the thump in his chest and played it cool.

"What about the person who drives you back and forth between home and school?"

"I've already sent him a text to return ahead of me."

Slinging the bag over his shoulder, he pivoted himself to face her, and offered a lazy smile. "Alright."

They were more than aware of the gazes directed towards them as they made their way out of the classroom together, but ignored them nonetheless. They remained silent as they walked side by side down the mountain.

Teresa nervously chewed on her lower lip as she pondered over how she was going to start up on the subject, and unbeknownst to her, Karma was having his own inner turmoil on whether he should question her regarding her actions.

"Um, so-" they began simultaneously, before pausing and staring at each other in surprise.

"Uh, go ahead, Karma-san." Teresa immediately spoke, offering a smile as she did. Karma stared at her for a moment, before finally complying.

"So, mind telling what was that about?"

"... Pardon? What was what about?" Teresa questioned, tilting her head sideways in genuine confusion.

"Yesterday, I saw you and Asano-kun together." His words caused the events from the previous day to resurface in her mind, and her cheeks flushed scarlet at the memory. She ducked her head and gave a awkward grin.

"R-Right. Y-Yeah, about t-that… " She stuttered, bringing her hand up to the back of her neck as she directed her gaze sideways - an act that made Karma's eyes narrow in displeasure when he noticed it. He gritted his teeth behind sealed lips and fought to control his temper. He couldn't understand this uncontrollable emotion that arose within him, but he didn't want to lash out at her - and maybe even hurt her in the process.

"Are you two- "

"Oh god, no! We most certainly aren't together!" Teresa exclaimed, face turning burgundy at this point, as she frantically waved both hands in front of her. Instantly, it felt almost as if something that had been wrapped tightly around his chest was loosened, relief flooded his being, and he found the next breath he took being somewhat easier than the first. Her face did little to reassure him, though.

"You sure?"

"Absolutely! It's not what you think at all. I… " She trailed off, anxiously looking sideways as she brought her right hand up to grip her left elbow as a slightly disheartened expression came over her face. "I was a little upset that you were distancing yourself from me, Karma-san, and it kind of brought back some bad memories from my past. It just so happened that Asano-kun saw me in that state and… I needed someone's company. It was just for a minute, though."

When she looked back at his, his mercury-golden eyes bored into her amethyst-golden bi-coloured eye and immediately knew she was speaking the truth. Now, for the main question.

"I have one more thing to ask."

"... Does it have to do with why you have been distancing yourself from me?" She cautiously asked, and he simply nodded. She gave him an uneasy smile before nodding in understanding. "Go ahead, then."

"... Why did you have a dagger on you, during the Kyoto trip?"

'Ah, so it was because of the dagger,' Teresa thought to herself, as she thought about it. Averting her gaze towards the ground, she contemplated on her options: to tell the whole truth or to answer only his inquiries and satisfy his curiosity. Naturally, she went for the safer option of the two, to prioritise her mission. She quickly thought of a reply - one that was completely believable and convincing enough to keep him off her case. One came to mind, and right before she spoke, a single thought flashed past her mind; 'Sorry, but this is all for the purpose of my mission, Akabane Karma.'

"Oh, my father gave it to me."

"As in, Amano Gid? It belongs to him?"

"Yes. You see, since I'm a corporate heiress, I have had a lot of his enemies come after me, to get to him. I don't actually use it unless I have to, in order to escape. I swing it around to keep them away from me and give me enough time to run away. Since I was going away on the Kyoto trip, my father wasn't comfortable with the idea of me travelling and not being within the sights of him or my chauffeur - not to mention he doesn't know about Korosensei - so he insisted, and gave me that dagger. For protection." Okay, she was definitely stretching the truth at this point. But Karma looked slightly convinced, as he continued to question her.

"Have you… ever stabbed people with it?"

"Um… " She begun, pretending to grimace at the thought of it. "Once or twice, when the situation was getting too… critical. I've only ever used it for self-protection when I run into commotions." Technically, that wasn't a lie. Except that the 'commotion' she mentioned was running into her target's subordinates, and hence she had to give them 'special care'.

Karma's eyes dulled with bloodlust as he asked his final question. "Have you killed anyone with it before?"

Furrowing her brows, Teresa leveled her gaze with his for several seconds, before slowly closing her eyes. "... No, I don't think so."

"What?"

"I never actually checked. It was sort of a hit-and-run kind of thing whenever I used it, but I've never inflicted any form of injury severe enough to kill." She watched Karma to observe his reaction, and got slightly worried when she got none. She glanced to the look in his eyes. "Karma-san?"

'So that's why she doesn't feel threatened so easily; she's used to facing danger from a young age. Also explains why she isn't afraid of me, or anyone else for that matter. It's no wonder why she would hide it; no one would want to reveal this kind of secret,' Karma thought to himself, as his face turned blank.

"I see." He replied, before flashing his usual smirk and swinging an arm over her shoulders, purposely bringing his face intimately close to hers. This caused her cheeks to flush pink, much to his satisfaction, as he chuckled.

"So, let's talk about how you're gonna make it up to me."

"M-Make it up to you?" She stammered, trying - and failing - not to let the close proximity fluster her.

"Yeah. Because of all these misunderstandings, I was pretty upset. And you were the cause of it, so you're gonna have to make it up to me."

"Hmm… What do you have in mind?" She asked, smiling sweetly while quirking a brow. Karma pretended to ponder for a moment, before the smirk turned into a feral grin.

"You acting as bait for delinquents?" Teresa stared at him, blinking several times, before letting out a laugh. She quickly clamped a hand over her mouth in an attempt to prevent the last few chuckles from slipping - without prevail.

An amused grin played her lips as she replied, "Gladly."

* * *

The shortest students of the class watched in silence as Teresa and Karma walked off, grinning at each other, all traces of awkwardness and distance from before gone. Kayano turned to face Nagisa, a smile playing her lips. "I'm glad they got back together."

"Yeah, me too," Nagisa replied, a wide smile in place too, before he turned to Kayano and said, "Wait, since when were they even together to begin with?"

Kayano simply shrugged in response, "Well, they aren't, but nonetheless. Looks like your advice helped Karma-san, huh?"

At that, Nagisa felt himself smile once more, as he turned back to watch his best friend and his possible crush leave the mountain. More than relief, he was happy for Karma, who seemed to be slowly changing in his time with Teresa, and he hoped for some sort of evolution in Karma's heart. Knowing the red-haired male better and longer than most, he knew about the apparent loneliness and bitterness in Karma's heart better than anyone else, and hoped that Teresa would be the cure. Seeing as they had seen enough, he stood up straight and stepped out of their hiding spot. Raising a confused brow, Kayano followed suit, slinging her bag around her shoulder. Nagisa turned to face her and asked with a knowing grin, "Wanna stop by your favourite place for puddings to celebrate their reconciliation?"

"You know me too well, Nagisa!" Kayano replied between bouts of giggles as she playfully grabbed Nagisa's arm and pulled him along, the latter laughing along every step of the way.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed it! Apologies if some of you found this chapter a lackluster (I know I did, and I'm the author dammit), but I promise you the next two chapters will be much more interesting. As a matter of fact, I'm already more than halfway done with the next two chapters, so look forward to it. And as always, please do review.**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	14. Her Resolute Tenacity, A Turnaround Win

**Hello my lovelies. Apologies for the wait. I had actually intended to post this chapter a day or two after the previous one, but I had a little problem coming up with a suitable ending. The next chapter is also almost done, so hopefully I'll complete it within the following week.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or its characters. Just parts of the plot in this story.**

* * *

Chapter 14: Her Unwavering Determination, A Turnaround Win

Teresa raised a brow from where she was sitting as she stared at the screen of the television Irina had brought into the class. It was currently screening the movie 'Sex and the City', the scene where Samantha and Carrie were chatting while dining. The question in her mind: _why_ was Irina showing this. None of this was considered appropriate for a class of 15 year olds.

Their blonde-haired teacher then paused the movie, and stepped in front of the screen. "Did you get all that? None of the vocabulary used in Samantha and Carrie's sex talk is difficult. In fact, everyday chit-chat is actually quite simple."

She then took a step forward and raised her index finger. "No matter the country, wherever you go, an everyday conversation is like this. You probably know someone who uses phrases like 'seriously ( _maji_ ) awesome' or 'seriously ( _maji_ ) awful'. The 'maji de' that you use in Japanese is often expressed with the old standby 'really', in English."

She then pointed towards Kimura. "Kimura, you try saying it."

The said boy was startled by the sudden question and stammered, "L-Liaree."

"Aaand nope; that was awful." Irina chastised, making an 'x' with both index fingers. "Your 'L's and 'R's are a total mess. The pronunciation of 'L' and 'R' doesn't jib well with Japanese people, so you must learn to differentiate them well when speaking in English. People like me will understand what you're saying, but it'll feel wrong."

Ah, so that's why she went through the trouble of bringing a television and showing them an English movie.

"It's inevitable for mispronunciations to exist between languages. Even Korean stars generally tend to end up pronouncing 'itsumademo (always)' into ' _ichiumademo_ '. Japanese speaker's pronunciation problems of 'L' and 'R' is the same sort of thing, as far as I'm concerned. However, don't run from your incompatibilities - master them! From this point on, I'll be constantly on your pronunciation."

She then brought her hand up to her lips, lightly tapping them with her fingers. "And if you screw up your 'L's and 'R's… as punishment, you will receive a deep, French kiss in front of the class."

She didn't know for the girls, but Teresa didn't think it would be considered 'punishment' in the boy's books. Suddenly, Irina pointed towards Kataoka. "Say ' _really_ '!"

"R-Riaree… "

"Nope! Yukiko?"

"L-Lially?"

"NO! Come one, doesn't anyone in this class have perfect pronunciation?! Karma, Nagisa, Teresa!"

The trio exchanged looks before reciting in unison and perfect pronunciation, " _Really_."

Irina stared at the three in surprise, mentally differentiating how each of them said it, before pointing to Teresa. "... Say it one more time."

" _Really_." This time, Teresa spoke louder and with more confidence, and her British accent was evident in that single word. Irina's eyes practically lit up, like that of a child who finally got that doll she wanted on Christmas day, and squealed.

"That was perfect! And that accent too! Are you British?"

"Not purely, but yes." Teresa replied honestly, gaining Karma's attention as he raised a brow at this fact.

"I knew you weren't fully Japanese, but I didn't think you were British!" She exclaimed, smiling widely, before flashing a thumb-up and saying, " _Good job_!"

She then glanced at the two boys and grinned. "You boys did exceptionally well, too, for Japanese. Wanna kiss as a prize, you three?"

"No, thank you." Nagisa rejected.

"I must decline." Teresa agreed.

"I'd rather have Teresa-chan kiss me." Everyone turned around in their seat to face Karma in surprise, the crimson-haired boy simply shrugging and leaning into the backrest of his seat. He briefly glanced Teresa's way and noticed she was staring down at her desk, cheeks tinted red. Her flustered state caused pride to swell in his chest, and he smirked to himself.

"Oi Karma, don't be so full of yourself! You can't just demand a kiss from our Queen!" Okajima exclaimed, glaring furiously at Karma, who simply blinked and questioned, "Why's that?"

The furious look morphed into a pervy one as he brought out his camera out of nowhere, and panted while replying, "If you're gonna do it, let me at least capture the memory of her first kiss and that magnificent body too!"

Karma smirked and waved his hand, "Sure, if you send them to me too."

"Deal!"

" **No** , no deal!" Kataoka howled, grabbing Okajima by the top of his head in a nail-digging grip, causing the poor boy to squeal in fear. "K-Kataoka!"

"It is not something to be memorialised or publicised to begin with! And Karma-kun! Don't you go agreeing and making such deals when it is convenient for you!" The said boy merely shrugged and locked his hands behind his head.

As everyone pointed and laughed at the usual antics, Teresa then regained herself and her eyes slid over to the side, towards the hallway, a dull look in her eyes. The light footsteps and well-disguised bloodlust didn't pass by her while she was in the classroom. And there was only one person in the world she knew was capable of this feat, other than the God of Death.

'... Lovro's here, huh?'

* * *

"Ah man, Bitch-sensei's lessons are so raunchy." Sugino commented, walking out of the satellite campus with Nagisa and Sugaya, who chuckled awkwardly.

"And not to mention, there are so many dirty jokes, too. That was definitely not a show junior high students should be watching," Sugaya added, earning affirming nods from the other two.

"Still, it makes things easier to understand," Nagisa stated, smiling lightly. "Plus, I've heard that using foreign dramas is a good teaching method. Infiltration assassinations are her specialty, so she's really good at languages, and I'll never get tired of hearing about her past experience, either. It's just... "

"Just what?"

"Whether you're right or wrong, she'll still kiss you in front of the class." Nagisa finished, sweatdropping slightly. The three boys immediately flashbacked to earlier that day, Irina had asked Sugaya to pronounce 'miracle' and when he got it right, she outright dipped him and deep-kissed him.

The victimised male sweatdropped too and groaned at the memory. "Yeah… she's basically a female perv."

Nagisa nodded, before blinking in surprise when he saw a flash of red. "Karma-kun!"

The said male stopped and turned around to face the bluenette. "Ah, Nagisa-kun."

"Teresa-san isn't with you?" Sugino questioned, approaching him. Karma nodded in response, yawning slightly before replying, "Yeah. She said she had stuff to take care of, and told me to go on ahead without her."

"And where are you going now?" Nagisa asked. Karma studied him for a moment before replying, "I wanted to go to this new cafe that opened up in town and try their menu. Wanna come with? I did manage to snitch some money from Korosensei."

"Haha, sure!" Nagisa exclaimed, before turning around to face the other two. "Do you guys wanna come too?"

"I'd love to, but I have to complete my assignments." Sugino replied, and Sugaya gave an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I had plans today; I wanted to create a new design."

"Oh, okay. See you guys tomorrow!" Nagisa exclaimed, before jogging over to Karma and the two went their way. When they were out of earshot, Karma spoke up once more. "Thanks, Nagisa-kun."

"For what?"

"That conversation we had the other day." Karma replied, and Nagisa's face lit up in realisation. "Ah, that one."

* * *

" _It's about Teresa-chan?" Nagisa inquired, parroting Karma's words. Karma simply hummed in response. "Yeah, I'm… rather confused."_

" _Karma-kun, confused? That's even stranger. Exactly what could you be confused about?"_

" _I… found her to be in possession of a dagger during the school trip in Kyoto. A real dagger, not the anti-Korosensei knives that we have."_

" _... Eh?"_

" _And based on my knowledge, it has been used to kill. The scratch marks on the blade are definitely caused by bones, and it smells of blood."_

" _And… how does that make you confused?"_

" _I'm having mixed feelings about it. My mind and gut tells me that she is dangerous and to keep away, but my heart… tells me to stay. To continue being her friend. I don't know why, but I get the feeling that she needs me to stay. Which should I trust: my mind or my heart?" Karma replied, finding himself to be opening up to Nagisa a lot easier than he thought. These feelings and thoughts that he had kept to himself - mostly because he was unsure of how to bring it up or even speak of it - were all flowing out like water from a broken dam._

" _Hm… Karma-kun's gut feeling has never been wrong. But if what your heart wants opposes it, why don't you confront her about it?"_

" _Confront her? You mean, ask her about the dagger?"_

" _Yeah. I mean, I don't doubt your instincts, but perhaps it would help if you knew her reasons. Then you would have a better understanding of the scenario, and that way, whatever you choose, you wouldn't regret, and she wouldn't hold it against you."_

* * *

"Because of your advice, I managed to clear things up with Teresa-chan, so… thanks, I guess," Karma said. Nagisa bent over and peered at his friend's face. Karma's tone and expression was one of indifference, but the look in his eyes spoke multitudes. A small grin came over Nagisa's lips as he cheerfully replied, "You're welcome, Karma-kun!"

* * *

"Ahh, man, enough already! Teaching is such a pain in the ass!" Irina exclaimed, flopping back into her seat, her desk opposite Karasuma's. The said man was revising documents and typing out his own report. Studying Irina's sluggish form for a moment, he spoke up, "You say that, but the students have taken a liking towards you. You are unexpectedly popular with them."

Irina waved her hand with a dissatisfied frown, before complaining, "And am I supposed to be proud of that? It's nothing to brag about; I'm a professional assassin! I'm only here because I have no choice to; I'm here to kill that octopus. And speaking of which… " She trailed off, her eyes sliding over to the side, narrowed into a furious glare.

"... THAT VERY OCTOPUS IS OGLING MY BREASTS LIKE IT IS SOME SCENERY WHILE GRACEFULLY DRINKING TEA!" She all but screeched as she pointed to the very subject of their conversation. Korosensei, flushed pink, was kneeling next to her, holding a Japanese tea cup as he continued making sheep's eyes at her cleavage, paying no heed to her words. Karasuma could only sweatdrop at the sight as he watched the two.

"Real-life lessons drawn from experiences - how marvelous!" Korosensei narrated, a teasing note at the end - which was more than enough to push Irina past the edge. "Oh, do please shut up!"

She drew out her dagger and began making stabbing motions towards the octopus, who evaded her attacks with ease. Which proceeded to tick her off even more.

"Don't let him get to you. That's just the kind of target he happens to be. You became a teacher to concentrate your power and wait for the right opportunity to strike, didn't you?"

" _Shit_!" Irina cursed aloud in English, tossing the anti-Korosensei blade behind her, as she rose out of her seat before making her way out. "I can't stand it; how long is it going to take?!"

The two male teachers watched as the door to the faculty lounge slammed close. Korosensei was the first to speak up. "She's certainly on edge."

"And whose fault do you think it is?" Karasuma growled, glaring at him.

* * *

Irina strolled around the empty satellite campus, and stopped in the middle of a hallway, looking down.

'I can't afford stay cooped up in here like this. Even though I've made a name for myself and risen through the ranks of professional killers, I just can't come up with any ideas. Just how on earth am I supposed to kill a monster like that… " Lost in her thoughts, she didn't notice the wire noose behind lowered till it wrapped around her neck and pulled her up into the air. She reacted immediately, bringing her hands up to pull on the wire rope so as to ensure she wouldn't be resting her entire weight on it via her neck.

But she was by no means strong enough to free herself.

'A snare trap?!' She thought to herself, alarmed as her legs kicked about, so much so her heeled shoes slipped off. 'Why here? Who set it up? And why did they target me?!'

As she flailed about in a desperate attempt to free herself while her mind raced for answers, an elderly man dressed in an ominously dark-coloured coat appeared from around the corner.

" _What a surprise, Irina, seeing you serve as a teacher, playing at lessons with those children, and even exchanging farewells with the students. It was as if I was watching the set-up of a comedic skit._ " He spoke. Irina struggled to gather the strength she needed to reply, before uttering, " _... Professor…_ "

" _What are you doing?_ " Karasuma appeared, looking towards the obviously suspicious-looking male, as he gestured towards Irina. " _Let her go. That isn't a technique for stringing up women, now, is it._ "

The deadly look in the man's eyes didn't disappear as he let out a chuckle.

" _Don't worry. She has been trained to defend herself against such traps_ ," he said, before swiping out a pocket knife and slicing it through the wire. This immediately caused Irina to plummet to the ground, the said blonde coughing as she fought to regain her breath.

After ensuring that she was alright with his own eyes, Karasuma proceeded to question the intruder. " _Who are you? Luckily, I know English, but… do you even understand what I'm saying?_ "

"My apologies, Japanese is fine. I'm not anyone suspicious, I assure you. After all, I'm the one who mediated between Irina Jelavich and this country's government. I believe you understand now."

At this, Karasuma's eyes widened in realisation at the identity of the man before him.

Lovro, the 'Hitman Dealer'. Formerly known to be a talented and skilled assassin, but is currently retired. He's made his existing fortune on training a new generation of young hitmen, and gets them hired via mediation with international governments. He is an invaluable contact for the Japanese government, which has little to no connections with the world of hitmen.

'But why is he here?' Karasuma thought to himself, as he watched Lovro look around the hallway before questioning, "By the way, where's the rumoured 'Korosensei' right now?"

"He went to Shanghai to get some almond jelly. Seeing as he left half an hour ago, he should be returning anytime now."

"So this creature lives up to the hype. He's truly the monster I'd heard. It's a good thing I came, then - I've found my answer," He began, before turning to face Irina. "Irina, withdraw for today. You can't handle this job; it's impossible for you."

At that, Irina jerked her head upwards to face him, multiple emotions visible on her face, the most evident being shock and distress, clearly insulted by how blunt his words were. It damaged not only her pride as an assassin, but her pride as his student.

"... That was a rather swift decision. Didn't you recommend her yourself?" Karasuma questioned, folding his arms across his chest as he studied Lovro.

"Yes, indeed. However, now that I've seen the situation first-hand, the circumstances have changed significantly. She has become ill-qualified for this job, as it is. When it comes to undercover missions, as an infiltration assassin who hides her true colours, her skill is second to none - she has no equal. However, if her cover is blown even once, her identity as an assassin is revealed, and her level drastically decreases. She becomes worthless as an assassin." Lovro then directs his gaze towards Irina, who has remained sitting on the ground this entire time, and flashed a punitive gaze at her. "In the end, you are merely disgracing yourself by staying here as a sham of a teacher. I didn't teach you so you could turn around and do something like this.

Unable to put up with his words any longer, Irina jumped up to her feet and protested indignantly, "That's not- I can definitely kill him, Master! I have what it takes!"

As soon as those words had left her mouth, she regretted it.

"Oh?"

Within an instant, he was behind her, jabbing a thumb against her throat while locking her arm behind her back with incredible force. She let out a choked gasp in reaction to this, as Lovro asked from behind her, "Can you pull of a move like this?"

'Fast!' Karasuma's eyes widened in alarm as he thought this, watching his colleague and her teacher engage.

"There are plenty of other missions more suitable for you, so clinging to this job is just a waste of time and money. Leave this kill to someone more qualified. The other of the two assassin transfer students displayed astounding skill in combat, it seems that preparations regarding their transfer are just about complete." Karasuma, hearing this for the first time, blinked in surprise, while Irina had an unreadable expression on her face as her eyes narrowed.

"Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses - not everyone is best suited to do the same things. Earlier, you were teaching about pronunciations, but as far as you're concerned, this classroom itself… is not one of "L"s and "R"s." Irina's eyes fell to the ground in slight despair, and gritted her teeth in frustration, knowing that every word he said was right. She had lost her advantage, her ace-in-the-hole, her only trump card. And now she playing the role of a teacher, as opposed to her profession, while staying here to find another opening that she could strike at. One that might never appear.

What was the point of staying in this classroom any longer?

"You are half correct, and half incorrect," declared Korosensei, suddenly appearing between them and pulling them apart with his tentacles. Half his face was purple with a 'x' above his right eye, while the other half was orange with a 'o' above his left eye. Irina looked positively livid by the fact that Korosensei had opted to pull her head back by her nose.

"What are you doing here, game show?" Karasuma questioned, outwardly unfazed by his sudden appearance, but the dread in his tone was evident. This cause Korosensei to pout a little.

"How mean! That's such a cruel nickname. Please just call me 'Korosensei' already, since it is the name given to me." Korosensei said, as Lovro studied him, for this was the first time encountering Korosensei face-to-face. "It's you… "

"It is true that, as far as assassins go, she is far from frightening. She's crap."

"The hell you calling 'crap'?!" Irina screeched.

"However, as an assassin," Korosensei continued, unfazed by Irina's protest, "she's all the more suited for this classroom. In other words; a perfect fit."

Irina blinked, taken aback.

"Let's have a kill-off. If you try comparing kills, it'll be clear as to which of you is the superior assassin. It will be between the two of you." Korosensei suggested, pointing towards Irina and Lovro. Both of them appeared startled by the sudden declaration, as they simultaneously turned to face Korosensei, who resumed to speak with reserve.

"The rules are simple: the one who kills Karasuma-sensei first wins!"

"Huh?!"

"If Irina-sensei wins, you will permit her to remain in this classroom for the rest of the duration of her contract," Korosensei summarised, gently placing a tentacle on Irina's back.

"Wait a minute! Why am I being made the victim here?!" Karasuma howled, beyond livid. His angered tone caused Korosensei to stiffen, as he rigidly turned around to face the furious male.

"Because you will be a fair and challenging target, Karasuma-sensei. Besides, no one can kill me anyway, so making me the target would be meaningless." Korosensei replied, rather smugly at that, it ticked off all three adults. He pulled out a pair of anti-Korosensei knives, wrapped in cloth, and handed one each to Irina and Lovro.

"You'll have all of tomorrow. One of you simply needs to strike him with these knives, and absolutely no sabotaging each other's assassination attempts. Plus, you'll incur penalty if you disrupt the students' classes."

"I see, so this is a sham assassination," Lovro commented, grabbing the rubber blade and bending it one way, before letting it go. Watching it waver back and forth, he continued, "Very well, I'll play along. Sounds like a fun way to kill time."

Having given up trying to talk his way out of this, Karasuma stomped off, a vein near his temple popping in anger. "Fine, do as you wish!"

"Korosensei… that man is powerful, isn't he?" Lovro questioned after letting out a few chuckles over Karasuma's reactions, as he watched the said teacher leave.

"Of course. After all, he was the one selected to keep an eye on me. And what good would it be giving professional assassins a weak target?"

At that, Lovro smirked triumphantly and faced Irina. "You'll never be able to strike him with that knife, Irina. I thought everything you know about assassination. I know what you can and cannot do; I know everything about you. I will rub your nose in the truth with this mock assassination: you will resign from the assignment."

A complicated emotion overcomes Irina as she silently stands there, unmoving. Lovro didn't spare her a second glance as he slowly walks away. "And since Korosensei can't be killed by anyone here now, after you're gone, I'll send in another assassin who can - and will."

When he was out of sight, Irina turned around to face Korosensei.

"Are you actually trying to help me? I bet you think that I'll be easier to deal with than the next assassin my master sends, don't you?" She asked cautiously, but before he could even muster a response, she turned livid, and turned away, storming off all the while screeching.

"But I won't give you the satisfaction! I will kill both you and Karasuma! That's a promise!" Korosensei watched her back and chuckled to himself, before looking out the window behind him.

"You can come out now." With that, the person slowly rose and brushed the back of her skirt.

"So you did notice I was here," Teresa said, giggling slightly as she flashed a smile at Korosensei.

"Why are you still here, Teresa-san? Eavesdropping is not right, you know."

"I was actually just leaving, but when I passed by this hallway, I saw Jelavich-sensei got stringed up and I kinda panicked. I didn't know what to do, so I stayed out of sight and decided to watch how it would turn out. I wasn't expecting it be Jelavich-sensei's teacher," Teresa replied, before staring at the direction that Irina had walked off to. Korosensei followed her gaze and did not say a thing.

"Jelavich… Irina-sensei will win, right?" Teresa asked, and Korosensei detected a hint of worry and something else indescribable in her tone, and paused for a moment before replying.

"Who knows… that's up to her, don't you think?"

"... True. Irina-sensei isn't the type to go down without a fight, anyways." With that, Teresa picked up her bag and slung it over her shoulder. "Well then, I should get going. See you tomorrow, Korosensei!"

"Yes, see you tomorrow!" Korosensei replied enthusiastically, raising a tentacle to bid her farewell as she ran off. Korosensei fell silent as he watched her disappear. The more he interacted to her, the more he felt her potential. But above that, there was something about her that reminded him of himself.

Himself from the past, that is.

"Well, that aside, I hear there's an offer on the coconut rice in India. Let's go make a stop there, shall we?" And with that, he took off.

* * *

"Took you long enough," Edward exclaimed jokingly as he stepped away from the limousine to open the door for Teresa, who simply ignored him and settled in. It wasn't long before Edward drove off and halfway towards her quarters.

Teresa took out her phone and stared at it, long and hard, hesitant about the course of action she is about to take. Eventually, she dialled in a number, before pressing the call button. After a couple of rings, the line connected.

"Hey." She was currently speaking how she normally did as an assassin, which was completely different from when she was acting as a student; her voice was lower, sharper and void of emotion

Just as Lovro had remembered it.

"It's been a long time. Thirteen months, I believe?" Lovro greeted.

"Indeed. From our last job together. It was complete coincidence that the contractor scouted for the both of us to deal with that Russian mob… 'череп дракона' (Cherep Drakona), was it?" Teresa replied, the Russian words rolling off her tongue like it were her native language.

"That's right. But I don't believe you called to reminisce on the past."

"Sharp, as always. If only Gid could take a page out of your book." Teresa commented, and she could practically see Lovro sweatdrop at her words as he replied, "... Cold as ever, I see."

"Emotions are unnecessary and have proven to be extra baggage if involved into assassination missions."

"True. So, what did you want to talk about?"

She decided to get straight to the point. "Are you sure it was a good idea to remove Irina from the assassination classroom?"

"How… Were you assigned to the classroom?"

"... Yes, I was. Considering the fact that you were snooping around earlier this afternoon, I thought you would've seen me sitting in the classroom during Irina's lesson."

"Sorry, I was too busy hiding my presence to- Wait, you knew?" Lovro sounded thoroughly surprised. Teresa rolled her eyes in response. "Of course I knew. Who do you think I am?"

"Right… By the way, does Irina know about you? I didn't tell her anything, to respect our agreement from that time, but seeing that you are in the classroom…"

"Don't worry, she doesn't know the slightest thing about me; I made sure not to let anything leak. You just need to make sure to keep your end of the agreement and I'll keep mind. After all, alliances and connections are most effective when kept secret." Teresa stated, narrating the last line like a sentence in a textbook she had memorised multiple times.

"Agreed. Back to the matter, why do you think it's a bad idea for me to remove her?"

"It may not appear so, but the students need her. Her lessons are indeed educational for the students, and believe me when I tell you, teaching isn't the only thing on her mind." Teresa declared, remembering the equipment she found under Irina's desk in the faculty lounge when she was snooping around the other day.

"Even so, her presence appears to be more of a demerit than a plus." Lovro argued, and Teresa couldn't deny that, not when Irina's raunchy lessons were proving him right.

"Understandable that you would think that way, but you of all people should know by now that looks can be deceiving. You can't decide that you know everything she has been conducting while she has been here after observing her for just one day. Besides, you sending someone else in at this point could affect _my_ progress. And you know how I deal with that."

"... Very well, I'll continue to observe her before ultimately making a decision."

"Yes, please make sure to remember to do so, even during your little competition."

"You know about that as well?"

"Once again: Who do you think I am? One last thing: skill, precision and speed aren't the only things necessary in this classroom." Teresa replied, smirking. With that, she ended the call. She placed her phone on the leather seat and brought a palm up to her face, her fingers pressed over her fringe covering her left eye, while her thumb and index finger were open over her right eye, which narrowed slightly while her amethyst-golden orb gave off a dim glow.

"What the heck am I doing? Why do I even care about whether Irina stays or goes?" She muttered, before directing her attention on the folder next to her. A folder filled with information on the soon-to-be transfer student. She reached out to it and opened it before pulling out the contents. Speeding through the contents, her eyes widened at a certain piece of information.

"... 'Eden's Association II'..." She murmured, mentally glossing over the three words. Apparently, Edward had heard her, and briefly glanced at her through the rearview mirror, worry evident in his emerald-green eyes. Despite being aware of his gaze, she ignores it and continues reading the document.

It appears that this needed a little… investigating.

"Edward, we are making a little detour."

"Where to?"

"Headquarters."

"Understood." With that, Edward made a U-turn at the next light and began driving towards the headquarters of their assassin agency, Edel Rose Association. Upon arriving, she wordlessly stepped out of the limousine and speed walked into the building, Edward hot on her tail, trying to keep up without breaking into a jog. She made her way into the research bureau department and settled down in front of one of the desktops.

"So," Edward began, as he watched Teresa type away at furious speeds, mildly intrigued, "are you gonna tell me exactly why we're here?"

"Looking for something, is all," Teresa bluntly replied. Edward studied her tensed form as she scanned through the multiple records that appeared. Her eyes hardened when they fell on a certain line in one of the files she had opened.

"... Yanagisawa Kotaro… So that bastard's still alive. I had hoped he was killed after the project on Korosensei, but I guess not," she murmured, as she sent the documents to her email, and shut down the desktop. "Gid, that bastard. He knew about this and kept it from me. And to think _he_ started a second organization… I guess I'll have to rid him with my own two hands."

"I thought assassins don't kill out of spite?" Edward asked jokingly, but his teasing mode dissipated the instant he saw the absolutely murderous look in Teresa's eyes. This was clearly more than just anger or irritation, nor was it not the same kind of bloodlust she had during the line of duty.

She was very clearly out for blood. For revenge.

"Well, then, this wretched man ought to feel honoured, 'cause he's an exception to that rule."

* * *

That night, Teresa was rudely jolted awake from her sleep. She clenched her jaw at the memory of the nightmare that had caused her more than early arousal. Ripping the sheets off her body, she slid out of bed, ignoring how the strap of her nightgown slid off her shoulder in the process, and made her way out to the living room.

Pouring herself a cup of warm water, she held the cup in a shaky grasp as she approached the large, sliding windows of the living area and stared out at the night view as she downed her midnight drink, the comforting feeling of warm water flowing down her throat calming her. Apparently, she had awaken Tear, who slithered towards her and curled around her leg, moving up to her shoulders and flicked its tongue at her cheek. Offering a small smile, Teresa used her pointer and middle finger to stroke the side of the snake's head.

Placing the cup on the coffee table, she placed a hand on the window as she stared at her dimly-lit reflection in the glass, and chewed on her bottom lip, lips trembling. Those horrible memories were something she was able to push to the back of her mind, only popping up every now and then. But recently, they've been coming to mind more frequently, almost every week. Why they have returned was beyond her, but she didn't like it. Not one bit.

She was going to brutally slaughter the man who ruined her life, who made her turn out this way. She was tainted beyond return, and it was all his fault.

* * *

In the morning, Karma had decided to turn up to class early, and when he directed his gaze towards Teresa, he noticed the slightly dark marks below her eyes, and the dispirited look in her face. But before he could question her about it, Nagisa beat him to it.

"Teresa-san, did you sleep late last night?"

"Eh?"

"You have bags under your eyes. It's not very obvious, but…"

"Oh… no, I woke up in the middle of the night due to a nightmare. I wasn't able to go back to sleep after that," Teresa replied, offering a weak smile. Karma remained impassive, but inside his mind was racing.

Could her mental scars be causing these nightmares?

"Do you want to rest in the nurse's office?" Kayano asked, apparently having overheard everything. Teresa shook her head, and politely objected to Kayano's request. "I appreciate the sentiment, but there's nothing to worry about. I'll be fine. It happens time to time."

Nagisa and Kayano exchanged concerned looks, which didn't go unnoticed by Teresa, who awkwardly looked to the side, unsure of how to ease their worries. Karma stared at her, amazed by how she was able to put others before herself, even while she was, very clearly, unwell. He slowly rose from his seat, the sound of his chair scratching across the wooden floor gaining the trio's attention.

"Well, I'm gonna skip the first lesson and buy myself a drink. It's just gonna be another one of Bitch-sensei's raunchy sessions, anyway," he offhandedly commented, purposely brushing against Teresa's table as he walked past them and towards the classroom door.

"Skipping again?" Kayano exclaimed in disbelief.

"Karma-kun, just because your grades are top-notch doesn't mean you can play hooky anytime you want," Kataoka added, apparently still easily exasperated by his behaviour.

"Okay, I'll tell Bitch-sensei," Nagisa replied, unperturbed by Karma's ambiguous habits at this point. Teresa had a questioning look on her face at Karma's declaration, and as her eyes followed his form, they landed on the top corner of her desk, and noticed the unopened carton of strawberry milk. Which was the one he was holding when he first entered the classroom.

Eyes widening, she looked back up, just in time to see Karma stepping out the door. But just as he did, he directed one last glance towards her. It was so brief, if anyone wasn't watching they wouldn't have noticed.

But she did.

His eyes were immediately directed forwards once more, and he disappeared beyond the classroom walls. Realising the reason behind his actions, her cheeks were dusted a light pink, and she shyly reached out for the carton, aware of more than a few pairs of eyes on her. She poked the straw through the hole and silently sipped on it, head downcast to hide her face.

'Thank you, Karma-san,' She thought to herself, pure gratitude towards the said male filling her heart. She had never felt this way, till coming into this class. And while it still made her feel awfully and uncomfortably vulnerable…

… She couldn't bring herself to dislike it.

"Oh god, she's too cute!" Nakamura exclaimed, obviously thrilled by the scene that had just unravelled before her. There was absolutely no way she wasn't going to milk this for all that it's worth.

"Cliché, if you ask me. Not quite what I had expected from Karma-kun, which makes it all the more interesting," Fuwa replied, a matching grin in place. "His approach towards dating might be more normal than we thought. But then again, this is Karma-kun."

"Yep. We've got to expect the unexpected with him. So, honestly, there's no way it's gonna be normal. Teresa-chan, on the other hand…"

"To be this flustered over receiving a carton of strawberry milk from Karma-kun isn't too unexpected. Karma-kun rarely shows his concern this vividly, after all," Yada added, smiling brightly. "I guess what Teresa-chan said during the school trip about Karma-kun's actions and behaviour being often misinterpreted is true."

"Who knew that Karma-kun's such a sweetheart?" Nakamura replied in a teasing voice. This earned her an exasperated sigh from Teresa.

"I don't think you should way that too soon, Nakamura-san. While I did mention that Karma-san's actions are often misunderstood, that only applies to when he decides to protect someone. Saying stuff like that is going to make you a target, instead," Teresa said, a light yet warning tone in her voice. The dyed-blonde girl gulped in realisation of the truth of Teresa's words, and clamped her mouth shut, looking sideways.

"But, you have to admit, it is rare to see Karma openly display his care," Chiba voiced out, a small smile playing his lips. Hayami nodded in agreement. "True. Usually he does it by beating people up so bad, we can't tell if he's protecting or assaulting someone."

"Well, that's Karma-san for you. When it comes to him, he probably has a 'you either go big or go home' kind of mindset," Teresa replied, letting out a few giggles as she grinned. "He'd never go for in-between."

"Yep, that's definitely Karma-kun," Nagisa agreed.

* * *

Soon, it was time for physical education, and for that day's lesson, the students were practising balance - by literally balancing on two wooden poles, with one foot on top of each - while executing knife work towards the dangling Korosensei faces, attached to a string hanging in front of them.

Teresa assumed this was a form of military training to keep the students' reaction times sharp; maintaining balance and regaining it as soon as it is lost is vital, or it becomes an opening for your opponent to strike.

Having to take turns, half the class stayed on the ground to observe their classmates who were up on the wooden poles. However, that was not the only thing they were observing. There was something else, that was by no means inconspicuous, that they noted. Kurahashi crouched down while balancing both feet on one pole and pointed her knife towards the direction of said observation.

"Karasuma-sensei, over there… what…?"

"Ah, don't mind them. Just keep practising," he simply replied. But nobody missed the aggravated look on his face, nor the exasperation in his tone. Students from both the group practising and watching were thinking the same thing.

'He's the target?!'

The sentiment was unanimous, as they watched an ominous-looking trio spy on Karasuma from behind a bunch of greens, in a not-so-discreet manner. Why was he the target, no one - other than Teresa, who knew of the situation - understood. But their doubts were cleared soon after the lesson had ended.

* * *

"... And there you have it. There will be several disruptions, I assume. It's going to be a slight pain in the neck, but it shouldn't affect your classes. Just carry on like it's every other day," Karasuma said reassuring, after having explained the little competition.

"Karasuma-sensei really has it rough, doesn't he?" Teresa commented, sweatdropping. She would never tolerate this kind of nonsense in the agency, and silly competitions like these would be shut down by her immediately. Nagisa nodded in agreement, before letting out a sigh. "Looks like he'll never catch a break around here."

"Yeah…"

"That's it for today. Dismissed!" Karasuma explained, and the students rose from the ground one by one, getting ready to return to class. As Karasuma picked up his blazer, he heard a sickeningly sweet voice call out to him.

"Karasuma-sensei!" Both the students and Karasuma directed their gazes to the source. It came to no one's surprise that it was Irina.

"Good job today! You must be thirsty. Here, have a cold, refreshing drink!" She exclaimed, holding a flask in one hand, and the cap of it in the other, filed with what appeared to be orange juice. She had the most cheerful-looking grin on her face, and one could almost see hearts and sparkles flying around. She practically oozed pheromones.

… Which made it all the more suspicious.

Needless to say, no one was fooled by her sweet-talking. Everyone deadpanned and sweatdropped at her behaviour, not at all buying what she was selling.

'Something's… in there.' Isogai thought.

'Something's definitely in there,' Maehara thought, his sentiments synchronising with Isogai's. No one needed to say it out loud, Karasuma already saw through her.

"I bet it's probably a muscle relaxant. You'll immobilise me, then take the opportunity to stab me once I can't defend myself." The way Irina stiffened and averted her gaze did little to convince Karasuma otherwise. He shut his eyes and let out a sigh once he saw proof of his suspicions confirmed.

Teresa blinked as she watched the changes in Karasuma's reaction to Irina's attempt. Somewhat, rather than pure exasperation - as everyone probably expected it to be - she detected slight disappointment, as well as a hint of fondness. It was almost as if Karasuma couldn't bare to bring down Irina's spirits, as he had effectively done.

'Could it be… Karasuma-sensei…' She thought to herself, as she watched Karasuma turn his head sideways, before reopening his eyes to direct a stern gaze towards Irina. "Look, there's no way I'm going to even let you get close enough to give it to me."

A livid expression flashed across Irina's face, before it morphed into anxiousness. She then quickly covered it up with a smile. "Oh, hang on. I'll just leave it here for you-"

With a perfectly planned trip, Irina fell and landed on her front. No one even flinched in response, as she immediately got back up and began whining like a baby. "Owie! It hurts! Carry me piggyback, Karasuma! Piggyback!"

"I will not," Karasuma replied, this time exasperation vivid in his tone as he walked away, ignoring her cries. Teresa followed him with her eyes, before glancing towards where Lovro was hiding.

"Have you no shame, you idiot apprentice? You're just embarrassing yourself now," She could make out his words from the movement of his lips, and fought back a smirk. She couldn't blame him for thinking that way; she was sure everyone else was thinking the same. Isogai and Mimura stepped forward to help Irina up, each holding an arm.

"Bitch-sensei…" Isogai began.

"Even we wouldn't fall for something like that," Mimura finished, as both boys pulled her up to her feet.

"What do you expect? Or rather, what choice do I have?! It is impossible to fake-seduce someone I already know!" Irina screeched, positively agitated by their comments. Both boys backed up slightly, holding their hands up in surrender at her outburst. "A club hostess would feel just as awkward if her father suddenly turned up as a customer, right?! This is the same sort of situation!"

'Like hell we'd know!' No one said it, but everyone knew they were thinking the same thing.

'This is bad - I have to hurry make my kill count. With Master's skills, if he puts his mind to it, he can kill his target in a split second,' Irina thought to herself, inwardly panicking. Feeling a pat on her back, she jolted slightly and whipped around, finding herself face-to-face with Teresa.

"W-What?"

"You shouldn't worry too much, Jelavich-sensei. You have what it takes to do it, or you wouldn't be as skilled an assassin as your reputation makes you out to be. You should be confident about your own skills, even if your opponent is your teacher," Teresa said reassuring, offering a kind smile as she did. Irina stared at her in surprise.

"You… think so?"

"No. I know so," Teresa declared confidently, and instantly, Irina felt calmer. "... Thank you, Teresa."

"You're welcome, and all the best."

* * *

Korosensei and Karasuma were walking side by side down the hallway in the satellite campus, while Karasuma slipped on his jacket.

"Well, what do you think? Isn't it fun to be the target, for a change?" Korosensei asked, his tone meaningful.

"Don't be absurd," came Karasuma's blunt reply. He then came to a stop and glanced back at Korosensei. "In the event, what will happen if I evade both of them? I'm not going to take this seriously unless there's something in it for me."

Korosensei brought a tentacle to his cheek as he pondered over it. "Hmm… then, I'll provide you with a special opportunity."

"A chance?"

"For one entire second, I will stay rock-still in front of you and not move, no matter what. You'll have the opportunity to assassinate me as you wish." Korosensei said, before changing out of his ninja outfit and back into his usual robes at Mach speed, and added, "but you mustn't tell those two! It would be a complete waste of time if they conspired to cut corners on purpose for that opportunity."

Karasuma tensed, as he watched Korosensei slither away, and replied in a low voice, "Very well, then."

* * *

Afternoon approached, and all three instructors were in the faculty lounge. Karasuma was busy typing up reports on his laptops, while Irina sat opposite him, studying his every actions with an intense and serious gaze. It was clear she wasn't cutting any corners, but his guard has not wavered for even a single second, and her scrutinizing gave him all the more reason to stay alert. Korosensei silently watched over the two teachers, anxious to see how it turns out.

'When your job is to kill a skillful combatant who is on guard, it's pointless to rely on childish tricks. Sorry to burst your bubble, Teresa, but the only things you need **is** exceptional skill, precision and speed. And that, Irina, is what your assassination technique lacks,' Lovro thought to himself, as he watched Irina's grasp on her knife tighten underneath her desk while he readied himself for his attack.

'And that is what the assassin who successfully kills Korosensei must have!'

Korosensei, who had been watching the two teachers, suddenly looked towards the doorway, letting out a 'nyu'. Less than a second later, the door slammed open, alerting all three occupants of Lovro's entrance.

'A head-on attack?!' Irina thought to herself, as she watched her Master go at it, stunned speechless. Karasuma instinctively pushed his chair backwards, only to have to hit a small obstacle. Karasuma briefly looked downwards and immediately noticed the tampered floorboard, and caught on to Lovro's plan.

Lovro believed that he only needed to catch him off-guard for a fractions of a second, and that in a battle between skilled assassins, that moment would cost them their life. He expected it to be his win as he launched his blade towards Karasuma's neck.

Little did he know, such logic was trivial in light of Karasuma's expertise.

Faster than they could blink, Karasuma had grabbed Lovro's wrist and slammed it onto the desk, the impact knocking the knife out of Lovro's hand. Then, with ridiculous flexibility, Karasuma brought one knee up, thigh parallel to the ground, and aimed it for Lovro's face, stopping only millimeters away. However, the force of the expected impact could be felt on Lovro's cheek, if the rush of wind evoked by Karasuma's movements were any indication.

"You may be skilled, but it appears you believe it'd be awfully easy for an assassin retired from old age to be able to kill someone who has been in the elite forces until just recently." Karasuma said, calmly letting go of Lovro and picking up the fallen knife.

To say Lovro was shocked was an understatement. 'He's strong!'

'Even Master couldn't kill him! What chance do I have of accomplishing the deed today?' Irina thought to herself, alarmed by Karasuma's display of prowess, and the obvious gap in their strengths.

Tossing the knife into his other hand, he pointed it towards Korosensei and, with narrowed eyes, slowly said, "I'm sure you already know, but if the deed isn't done by today…"

Both Korosensei and Irina let out panicked squeaks. Then Irina paused and turned around to face Korosensei, who had slithered behind her, using her as a human shield, and asked, "Wait, why are you so scared?"

"You can't lose, Irina-sensei! Do your best!" As he spoke, Karasuma made his way out of the faculty lounge.

"Just so you know, my knife can stab seven times in one second," he said, before turning so that they faced his side, and a feral grin appeared on Karasuma's lips as he finished, "I'm looking forward to it."

With that, he left. In complete contrast to Karasuma's calmness, Korosensei was sweating bullets. Irina snapped out of her reverie and directed her attention towards Lovro, who was gripping above the area Karasuma had grasped earlier, and spotted a large, black bump sporting his wrist.

"Master… Your hand..!"

Lovro gave a resigned smile and closed his eyes. "I suppose I can't kill him today, not like this." His words sent a jolt through Korosensei, who changed into a cheerleader's outfit and Mach speed and appeared behind Lovro, waving pom-poms.

"Don't give up! You still have many chances to do it! Yes!"

Lovro reopened his eyes and directed his gaze towards Korosensei, and said in all seriousness, "Even now, Korosensei, while you're this close to me - touching me, even - I still wouldn't be able to kill you. There are times an assassin must judge who is the stronger one and be willing to withdraw. From my experience, I can tell that much. And… the same applies to Irina."

His words cause Irina to reveal a disheartened expression, and she cast her head downwards, unable to refute him. But before anyone could say anything, a younger voice called out.

"Heh… so, I take it you're giving up then?" All three turned towards the door, and spotted Teresa standing at the entrance, leaning against the frame with her arms folded across her chest.

"Teresa-chan, still eavesdropping?" Korosensei asked, about to lecture her again, but she spoke before he could continue. "Well, I thought I'd drop by to see how things are turning out. This does involve us students too, after all."

Teresa then directed her gaze towards Lovro, who remained impassive. "So what now, Sensei-san? Already giving up?"

"I couldn't expect to continue with my wrist injured like this."

"Understandable. But what makes you so sure that the same applies for Jelavich-sensei?" Lovro frowned slightly at this, not sure where Teresa was going with this. He has never really been able to read her mind, to begin with.

"If I, her teacher, am unable to seal the deal, what chances does she have?"

"Oh? So not only are you belittling your own student, you're pushing your failure onto her to claim she is unfit for the job?"

"What makes you so sure she can do it?"

"I'll admit, Jelavich-sensei is not as experienced as you, and she definitely doesn't have the kind of skill and speed you possess. But, unlike you, she hasn't given up." At this, Irina perked up, taken aback by the defensive tone in Teresa's voice. Even Korosensei was slightly speechless.

"You, after being defeating once, has decided to give up for the rest of the day just because the odds are against you. But Jelavich-sensei has not given up, not even once, since coming to this classroom. That is her strength. No matter how humiliating or impossible, she continues to rise after she falls. As long as you don't give up, the chances of being able to assassinate your target will never fall to zero. But if you do, you'll be the one killed instead." Teresa declared, her tone darkening towards the end. She then directed a smile towards Korosensei.

"Don't you think such tenacity is needed in this classroom, Korosensei?"

"You are absolutely right, Teresa-chan! If all my students gave up this easily, they wouldn't be able to kill me by graduation, that's for sure!" He exclaimed, green stripes appearing on his face, causing Teresa chuckle nervously. "I see you are looking down on us again…"

Korosensei then zipped to behind Irina and places a tentacle in her shoulder. "I see that you have given up, Lovro-san. But please, do watch Irina-sensei till the end. Experienced or not, she's killed the most prominent targets!"

"... Do as you wish." Lovro replied. Teresa studied him with a steely gaze, which unnerved him, and he turned to face her. "What is it?"

"... Why do you have such little faith and trust in her. Is she not your student? Isn't she someone you've raised as your own child? Even Korosensei, who's known us for a definitely shorter amount of time than you have Jelavich-sensei, is always expecting and thinking highly of us. You of all people should be able to recognise her efforts and hardwork in her attempts. If you, her Master, can't even see that, you don't deserve to call yourself her teacher." Teresa said, before making her way to the door.

"You think she can win?" Lovro asked, and Teresa paused, staring at him blankly, before flashing a confident smile.

"I know she will win."And with that, Teresa took her leave.

Lovro sighed and followed soon after. Soon, it was just Irina and Korosensei left in the staffroom. It was silent for a few seconds, before Irina asked, "You really think I can hit Karasuma with my knife?"

"Of course. I know not what you've learned from your Master, but I do know the things you've worked so hard on while you've been here. For example…"

Korosensei then digged out one of Irina's lingerie magazines and opened it to a particular page where there was a red circle around a certain item on the page, effectively ruining the serious mood. "This lingerie you ordered yesterday! Now that's making an effort!"

"You octoperv!"

"Show them what you can do. To Karasuma-sensei, to your Master, and above all else, to your students. Even Teresa-chan believes you can do it. What will you do if you, the person executing the job, has less confidence than her own student? She believes in you, but…" Korosensei pauses, bringing up a tentacle-like finger to point towards Irina's chest. "You must first believe in yourself."

With that, Irina's eyes hardened with renewed resolve.

* * *

"I wasn't expecting that coming from you," Karma commented, as he strolled next to Teresa, who was making her way to find Karasuma.

"I couldn't help it; we're definitely less experience compared to Jelavich-sensei, and we've only been taught for a few months, but yet Korosensei has more faith in us than Jelavich-sensei's teacher had in her. It just didn't sit well with me," Teresa argued, a pout in place. Karma chuckled lightly as he trailed closely. As they turned around the corner, they spotted Karasuma about to step outside, lunch in hand.

"Ah, Karasuma-sensei! Perfect timing, I wanted to speak with you!" Teresa exclaimed, rushing over to the said man, who stilled upon hearing her call out to him. Turning around, he faced her with his usual, uptight expression.

"Do you think Jelavich-sensei can't win?" She questioned, and he briefly raised a brow before replying, "Unlike Irina, I'm taking this seriously. There's no way I'd be losing at this point."

"Are you sure you should be saying that? You of all people should know not to underestimate your opponent." Teresa countered, a resolute look in her eyes. "Jelavich-sensei may look like she's fooling around, but it's just that; it only looks that way. She's taking this more seriously than anyone else. Is she not your partner? You should know by now that her whimsical ways are just an act, in fact, it's her skill. Jelavich-sensei doesn't give up easily, and isn't that the type of partner you needed?"

Karasuma remained quiet during Teresa's little speech, unable to counter her. Finally, after a moment of silence, he asked, "So you think Irina can win?"

"She will win. After all, she belongs here, and is needed here. And I honestly believe that you, more than anyone else here, thinks that." Karasuma's eyes rounded and brows raised in shock upon hearing that, tongue-tied and unable to form a response. Did he really think that? Did he subconsciously see Irina as someone that crucial around here? Seemingly satisfied with his reaction, Teresa turned away and began making her way back to the classroom, Karma hot on her heels.

"Are you completely sure about that?"

"About what?"

"Judging from what you said, it sounds almost as if Karasuma values Irina as not just an important asset, but also an important person."

"Oh, that…" Teresa came to a standstill, and Karma followed suit, standing behind her and watching her. She then turned around and flashed a sheepish smile. "I don't actually know."

"... Pardon?"

"It seems that way to me, but I honestly don't know for sure. But, don't you think it would be interesting to get those two together?" Teresa inquired, a slightly playful grin on her lips. "A honey-pot assassin and an square elite soldier; makes for a fascinating couple, wouldn't you agree?"

"Wait, you mean you're-"

"Going to play matchmaker for those two? Totally! I do think it would be sweet if they got together, and it wouldn't be so much of forcing them together as giving little pushes in the right direction." Teresa stated, before lowering her voice. "Besides, the other day I caught Korosensei mumbling about shipping them together or something of the sort, so don't you think it makes for good bait?"

His usual devilish smirk appeared upon hearing the last part. "So that was your aim from the start. If we could direct Korosensei's attention towards them behaving all couple-y for even a moment, his gossip-loving fetish would dull his senses, giving us an opportunity to strike?"

"Sharpest tool in the shed as always, Karma-san! Shall we return to class for lunch?" Teresa praised, before turning away and strolling off. Karma shook his head and silently chuckled; Teresa proved to be more and more interesting each day.

* * *

Later, in the classroom, Karma and Teresa leant against the window sills while partaking their lunches; a mustard-filled hotdog for Karma, and a home-cooked bento for Teresa. They were next to Nagisa's desk, who was eagerly munching on a triangular onigiri. Karma was staring out of the window, about to take another bite of his hotdog, till something caught his eyes.

"Hey check this out, Nagisa-kun, Teresa-chan." The mentioned duo, along with Kayano, looked towards him, before following his gaze towards Karasuma, who sat outside the campus alone, munching on a hamburger while leaning against a tree.

"Ah… Karasuma-sensei eats his lunch out there by himself pretty often," Kayano commented, before rising from her seat with Nagisa, and approached where Karma was standing upon realising a second presence. "And now one woman draws near… It's Bitch-sensei, and she means business!"

They understood the meaning behind his words; looking at her profile now as she approached Karasuma, knife in hand, they could see her seasoned aura and determination in her posture.

* * *

"... Mind giving me a minute, Karasuma?"

"Sure, what is it? This may be a sham assassination, but I won't go easy on you; I'm done playing around." Karasuma, slightly tensed as he looked up to her, observing her stance.

* * *

Korosensei and Lovro watched the two teachers from a different corner of the campus.

"She has a knife in hand, I see." Korosensei stated, narrating his observation. Lovro shook his head in disappointment.

"How imprudent. Just wading in? Against him? She should already know that isn't going to work. What a fool." Lovro commented. "I've never taught her any advanced combat skills, and obvious moves will only make the target more cautious. She much better off using her womanly charms. She can kill amateurs with a direct attack, but she knows he's no amateur. Her only asset is her sex appeal."

* * *

"Aw, come on, Karasuma." Irina began in a tantalizing tone, seductively slipping off her blazer, making a big show out of it. Karasuma momentarily averted his gaze, unaffected by her glamour as he briefly wondered what she was up to.

"I really want to stay in this classroom; I have to. You know that, don't you? Just let my knife scratch you and it'll be all over." Karasuma's eyes then returned onto her, and at this moment, she had dropped her blazer to the ground, landing on Karasuma's left leg. She then used one hand to push her platinum-blonde locks upwards in an alluring manner, revealing her neck and nearly-bare shoulder, save for the spaghetti-strap of her top. "If you do, I'll give you something in return, something worthwhile. The best kind of service, like nothing you've ever experience before, if you know what I mean."

With that, she flipped her locks and flashed him one last captivating smile.

In that instant, Teresa's words flashed across his mind.

' _Jelavich-sensei may look like she's fooling around, but it's just that; it only looks that way.'_

'In that case, I'll just have to stop her right before she strikes. I'll steal her knife and that's that.' He thought to himself, before letting out a resigned sigh. "Alright, go ahead. Hit me anywhere you like."

With his attention averted elsewhere, he did not notice how her eyes widened a small fraction, slightly taken aback that he had taken her bait, before narrowing with satisfaction. "Oh, goody then!"

* * *

"Lovro-san, you've watched Irina-sensei conduct her lessons, haven't you? Her style is beginning with working on correct pronunciation, which is difficult when mastering a new language. As a result, she's become surprisingly fluent in Japanese. Learning foreign languages is a cycle of practice and repetition. She has mastered ten languages now, and even tackled the role of 'teacher' head-on without any training, and mastered that too." Lovro averted his gaze from his student, and towards Korosensei upon hearing this, wondering where he was going with this.

"Did you really think," Korosensei continued, holding up a Louis Vuitton tote bag, "that an expert in challenges and mastery such as herself, has been slacking off doing nothing during her time here?"

Accepting the bag from Korosensei, he undid the zip and opened it up, before finding himself overcome with a sense of dumbfoundedness. "This is -!"

* * *

"Ahh, Bitch-sensei's gonna lose. Does she really think she can seduce her way through this?" Maehara commented.

"Just the opposite, Maehara-kun. It's already her win." Teresa replied, staring at the two teachers with a slightly bored expression. Letting out a sigh, she murmured, "I even warned him not to underestimate her, but he still did. I already told him, her behaviour is part of her skill."

"But Karasuma-sensei is stronger and faster, so he can react in time and defend himself, no?" Kurahashi asked, and Teresa shook her head.

"It's too late; she has already set the groundwork, and without him realising it, too. He's already caught in her trap, and there's no escape for him. He has already lost."

"You sound awfully confident about it," Isogai stated, earning a slightly surprised look from Teresa, before her eyes narrowed, and she directed her gaze back to Irina, focussing mainly on the glinting object that had been rather well-disguised in Irina's blazer.

"I see, so you guys haven't noticed it either." At this, most of the students stared at her in confusion, but Karma and Nagisa, who had already caught on, exchanged knowing looks, before directing their attention back on the scene before them.

* * *

"Okay, stay right there. Here I come!" No sooner did those words leave her lips, Karasuma barely had time to react to his left leg suddenly being forced upwards, while Irina rounded the tree he had been leaning against.

'A wire trap?!' Karasuma thought, alarmed by this turn of events. He was not expecting that, of all things. And from Irina, what more.

The momentary loss of composure caused him to fall onto his back, while Irina instantly let go of her end of the wire before making a mad dash for him. And right before Karasuma could regain himself and get up, she launched herself onto him and straddled his hips, immobilising him. In her temporary moment of relief - of executing everything perfectly - Irina felt her cheeks flush with adrenaline as she let out light pants, steadying her breath.

"She got the better of him!" Mimura exclaimed, surprised. Sugino followed suit.

"Way to go, Bitch-sensei!"

* * *

'She used her jacket and the tree to set up the wire trap. Plus, she distracted him from the entire process with her seduction ploy! I did not teach her any combination moves like that!' Lovro thought to himself, alarmed, as he watched his student easily gain the upper hand.

"Irina-sensei has been thinking hard about the skills she would need to kill me, in her own way, and has been working tireless on the problem - challenging and mastering them like they were a foreign language," Korosensei began, before looking back down in the bag that was now wide open in Lovro's arms. In it lay a battered, black two-piece jumpsuit, several yards of wire and metal hooks.

"I'm sure, with one look into this bag, you can already see her diligence and her hidden efforts." As soon as Korosensei had said those words, Lovro remembered something Teresa had told him during their phone call the other day.

'Teaching isn't the only thing on her mind.'

'Was this what she meant?' Lovro thought, before directing his attention back onto Irina.

* * *

'Gotcha!' Irina thought triumphantly, as she brought down her knife with all her might. Unfortunately, Karasuma was able to react in time, apparently having regained his bearings, and manages to stop her knife with both hands right before it hits his chest.

"... That was close," Karasuma breathes in relief, sweating slightly from the shock he had received earlier. Irina gritted her teeth as she attempted to push down against his resistance, but to no avail.

'Damn it! He's too strong for me to handle; if this becomes a clash of raw physical strength, I'll definitely lose! What should I do?!' Irina wrecked her brain for a solution, and came up with one that she, unfortunately, knew wouldn't work on him.

Well, she wouldn't know if she don't try.

"Karasuma?" Hearing her say his name, he blinked and shifted his gaze from the end of her blade to her. As he did, she put on her best her best puppy-dog eyes and the cutest pout she could manage in the situation.

"I want to do it. Let me kill you, pretty please?" She begged in a cutesy voice, which only produced results opposite of what was desired. Karasuma was beyond annoyed at her, self-admittedly, pathetic attempt of trying to butter him up.

"What kind of assassin asks for permission to do it?! You just don't know when to quit!" He exclaimed, pushing her knife away. Despite his harsh words, she refuses to relent, and a determined look resurfaces as she forces her knife downwards. The pure determination in her baby-blue eyes surprises Karasuma, and he continues to be even more so when she replies, "I do know when to give up, I just don't intend to! I'll never give up!"

'Jelavich-sensei doesn't give up easily, and isn't that the type of partner you needed?'

'It's completely my loss, isn't it?' Karasuma thought to himself, before letting go of her hands and allowing her knife to hit his chest. "Fine, it's enough."

Irina let out a sound of surprise as she wrapped her mind around the fact that her blade had just reached him, while he continued speaking, "I'm not going to spend all day playing around with a bad quitter."

'It was only a verbal agreement, after all. There was no way he'd just let me kill him after such a ridiculous bet,' Karasuma mentally added as he looked away, towards where he assumed Lovro and Korosensei were watching from.

* * *

"Irina-sensei is a woman who will wholeheartedly challenge and master ting, even those she's no good at, no matter how difficult. As her students watch her and follow her lead, each of them will progress in their development as assassins. And **that** is why, you will need her to stay here if you wish to have any chances of killing me." Korosensei said, facing Lovro as he shut his eyes, resigned to accept his loss and the truth displayed before him. Of course, this did not go by Korosensei unnoticed, and he just had to rub salt into the wound.

"Aw, look at that. As Teresa-chan predicted, Irina-sensei won, and you, the teacher, lost!" Korosensei teased, laughing as he slithered away, avoiding the swinging blade.

* * *

"She really did it!" Okajima exclaimed, clearly exhilarated by the outcome. And he wasn't the only one; everyone else was pretty pleased with the outcome.

"Wow!"

"This means Bitch-sensei is staying- Oi, Teresa-chan, what're you doing?" Maehara exclaimed in alarm, watching as Teresa slid open the window and hopped out, making her way towards Irina and Karasuma. She watched as Irina rose from her previous position and throw her head back with a relieved sigh.

"Congratulations, Jelavich-sensei. I suppose this means you're staying-" Teresa's word of congratulations were cut off as a pair of lean arms wrapped around her shoulder, and the head of platinum-blonde hair dropped onto her shoulder. Eyes trailing to her side, Teresa stared at Irina, slight surprise evident in her facial expression. She heard the light pants as Irina slowly regained her breaths, and whispered in a shaky gasp, "Thank you."

"...For what?"

"For believing in me, when I almost didn't," Irina replied, tone one of vulnerability that Teresa had never heard from her before. It made Teresa's heart clench in her chest, forming an uncomfortable feeling in her. What was her heart feeling that made her feel this way? She swallowed down the somewhat foreign emotion, and slowly - and rather hesitantly - rose her arms to wrap them around the older woman's back, offering several light pats. "...You're welcome."

After a few moments, Irina finally released Teresa and pulled away from her, the raven-haired girl forcing a sweet smile on her face. The gesture was returned by the honeypot assassin, who then turned around to face Karasuma, who had risen from the ground and begin wiping the back of his shirt free of grass strands.

Irina then spotted a stray piece of grass on his shoulder that he had apparently missed and casually went up to him, no pretenses. She then reached out to pick it from his shoulder and flick it away, unconsciously brushing up against him and bringing her face a little too closely to his. His eyes widened slightly just as she looked up at him with a genuinely, innocent smile saying, "You missed a spot."

Karasuma muttered out a low thanks before making his way back into the satellite campus before anyone realised the rapidly changing emotions within him, but it was too late. Teresa, who had watched the exchange - quite intensely too - and noticed how he reacted, and discreetly smirked to herself.

So Karasuma does notice her, after all. Well, it would just be another expandable element of this classroom.

Irina began walking away to freshen up, but stopped when she noticed Lovro standing before her. A cautious look came over her face as she instinctively backed up, biting her lower lip in anticipation. "Master…"

'You really are a lousy student," Lovro began, earning a flinch from the blonde lady, as she averted her eyes from him. Lovro let out a low sigh and offered a fatherly smile. "You're better off as a teacher. Make sure to kill him, Irina."

At this, Irina immediately perked up and visibly brightened, a large grin in place. "Of course!"

Lovro's eyes then slid over to Teresa, who stood a slight distance behind Irina. He then closed his eyes and lowered his head in a small bow, before simply turning away and walking off. The end of Teresa's lips twerked up to form a cruel, yet discrete smirk.

'That's another obstacle out of the way,' She thought to herself, as her narrowed eyes slid over to Korosensei, who now stood in front of the windows of the classroom, where all the students stood. Her lips parted slightly into a grin, as she fought to conceal her bloodlust.

'I'm one step closer to killing you, Korosensei.'

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please do review.**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


	15. His Fatal Mistake, They Fight Back

**Hello my lovelies. Okay, I know I promised this chapter long, LONG, ago, but the reason I'm late is because of a mixture of writer's block and my slight dissatisfaction with what happens near the end of this chapter. I feel like I am empowering my OC a little too much (read the whole chapter and you'll see what I mean). I managed to down it a lot, but it still seemed much to me. I am so sorry for the late update. Without further ado, your (late) update.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom or it's characters. Just certain parts of the plot.**

* * *

Chapter 15: His Fatal Mistake, They Fight Back

Isogai and Maehara leisurely strolled towards the school grounds, walking side by side under the same umbrella that the raven-haired male held above their heads. Isogai watched, with apparent exasperation, as Maehara jovially texted away at his phone with his current girlfriend, Tsuchiya. He sighed before questioning his childhood friend.

"So, how many times does this make?"

"Not sure… the fiftieth?"

"I think you mean fifty-fifth, playboy." Maehara slowly - finally - looked away from the dimly-lit screen of his handphone and offered Isogai a sheepish smile. "You've been keeping track?"

"Only because I'm worried. Hiroto, it's fine and all to date; I am not against it. What I'm concerned about is that the girl you're dating is a student from the main campus. What more, from the A class. Someone like that only spells bad news, and all sorts of red tape."

"Yuuma, I know what you're concerned about, but I'm fifteen years old. I'm not a child anymore; I will be able to take care of myself when the time comes. Besides, this relationship has lasted much longer than the rest - it'll be fine," Maehara replied, his words doing little to reassure Isogai, whose frown deepened. Being the most familiar with Maehara's dating history, he's seen how some of those relationships have turned out, and the results are, on several occasions, most devastating. But he believed the end result of dating someone in the A class would prove to be much, much worse than all the others Maehara had dated so far.

Maehara recognized the look in Isogai's eyes and could immediately tell what he was thinking about. Maybe he should cut ties with Tsuchiya soon, if both Teresa and Isogai were advising him against it. And considering that they were way smarter than he was, they must be right. Speaking of Teresa...

"That aside!" Maehara suddenly exclaimed, eyes glinting in child-like excitement, causing Isogai to jolt slightly at the one-eighty change in his behaviour. Maehara started squealing like a crazed fangirl and clasped his palms on his cheeks.

"Did you see Teresa-chan and Karma the other day? They were cuddling with each other, I tell you! Their faces were sooo close! I think I saw them kiss!" Isogai gave a perplexed smile and shook his head at his friend's ridiculous antics, flashbacking to the scene they ran into during the previous weekend together.

* * *

 _Maehara was on the phone, engaged in a call with Tsuchiya to inform her that he couldn't bring her out on a date, due to helping Isogai watch over his younger siblings. It wasn't the first time he's doing this - they've been friends for as long as he can remember, and always helped to take care of Isogai's younger brother and sister. Even before Isogai's father had… left them._

" _Ah, I'm really sorry, Kaho. Maybe another time? Yeah, see you next time. Bye!" With that, Maehara hung up, sighing deeply. Kaho had sounded extremely disappointed over the phone; they were going to visit her favourite cafe that day, but Isogai's mother's health took a sudden turn for the worse that morning. Naturally, he prioritized helping his childhood friend and brother over his date._

 _Thankfully, Kaho was understanding and let it go, suggesting they go another time._

 _Maehara took Isogai's sister, Yuna, by the hand and walked over to Isogai, who was holding onto his younger brother, Yuka. They were currently out and about, looking for a place to buy their lunch at a decent price. As they strolled down the streets, while Maehara looked around, his eyes landed on the opening entrance of a small arcade, as a single person stepped out._

 _She was wearing a thin, burgundy-red turtleneck top with long sleeves that flared out slightly at the ends, the top tucked into a black denim, a-line button skirt. Dark-grey tights covered her long legs and brown leather, ankle-high boots with one-inch heels donned her feet. On her shoulder hung a simple white purse with a long strap, the purse falling by the side of her hip; and her long hair done up in a neat ponytail, leaving her bangs hanging out as the ends of her hair stopped above her ankles. Her back was facing him, but he'd recognise that raven-black hair with crimson ends anywhere._

" _Tere-" Maehara was about to call out to her, in friendly greeting, but stopped when his eyes caught the second person that stepped out of the arcade to join her side: Karma. The said male was dressed in a simple, black, long-sleeved top with a wide neckline revealing his collarbones, the sleeves rolled up to elbow-length. His top was partially tucked into a pair of dark-grey ripped skinny jeans, which fell over a pair of blue, high-top sneakers. Maehara mentally cursed at how that guy looked good in anything, no matter how simple._

" _Oi, Hiroto, what's the hold-up-"_

" _Shh!" Maehara hissed, clamping his palm over Isogai's mouth to hush him, before nodding his chin towards the couple's direction. Isogai's eyes widened in realisation, before nodding in understanding, stepping back to remove Maehara's hand from his face. The two boys watched the couple interact, chatting cheerfully as they faced each other, chuckling at the end._

 _Then, Karma suddenly flung an arm around Teresa's shoulders and initiated an action that strongly resembled cuddling, bringing the proximity of their faces to almost a close. They could see the playful grin on Karma's face, and the abashed reaction from Teresa. The raven-haired girl then pouted and threw his arm off her shoulders and pivoted her body to face away from him, folding her arms across her chest, huffing something in feigned annoyance with her cheek puffed up._

 _Karma then snickered, before snaking an arm around her waist and pulled her flush against his side, whispering something in her ear. Teresa then turned her head to face him and said something with a skeptical gaze. With a few words from Karma, she finally smiled and chuckled, slipping away from Karma's grasp and grabbed his wrist before gently pulling him along as she run down the street._

 _As they disappeared from their sight, Maehara and Isogai slowly turned to face each other, both boys looking equally shocked by the scene that had unfolded right before them._

* * *

"I honestly doubt it, even if Karma does harbour such feelings for her. There's really no telling whether they would go out or not. And I'm almost completely certain that you hallucinated them kissing."

"Eh? Even if that's true, don't you think they'd make a cute couple? They would look so darn adorable together!" Maehara squealed, fangirling at the thought. Isogai could only sigh in response. His friend was as much of a matchmaker as he was a flirt.

"Who would look adorable together?" A new voice joined in, scaring both males half to death. They whipped around to find Teresa right next to them, a gentle smile on her face, with an expressionless Karma next to her, holding an umbrella over them both. Both boys blinked at the sight, before quickly scrambling for a response.

"N-No one, really! Just talking about a couple of friends who should totally hook up!" Maehara exclaimed while Isogai facepalmed, causing Teresa to quirk a brow in response and shrug. "If you say so."

"I-It's rare to see the two of you come to school together," Isogai said in a - successful - attempt to change the subject. Teresa let out a laugh, waving a hand before her.

"We didn't come together. We arrived at the school gates the same time, and then decided to walk up together. Right?" She explained, before turning to face Karma, who simply nodded in confirmation.

Suddenly, Maehara's phone let out a short ring which caught the attention of the quartet. Teresa peered over the lit-up screen and frowned, before directing her disapproving stare at the owner of the phone, who shrunk away.

"You're _still_ going out with her?" All three boys could practically hear the disgust and exasperation dripping off her tone. Karma remained indifferent while Isogai shot Maehara a triumphant 'I-told-you-so' smirk.

"S-Sorry, Teresa-chan… "

"'Sorry' doesn't cut it, Maehara-kun. It's not like I want to stop you from dating, in fact, you can go be the playboy you are all you want. But you need to be smarter about who you choose to go out with. Tsuchiya is nothing but bad news."

"That's what I said!" Isogai exclaimed, a wide smile on his face, happy that someone had the exact sentiments as he did. They comically high-fived over Maehara's head, the said boy puffing up his cheeks in annoyance of the repeated warning.

"What makes you so sure she's that bad?" He blurted out, immediately regretting it when Teresa's eyes met his in a grim expression.

"Because, Tsuchiya… is dating Seo, Maehara-kun." Everyone's eyes went wide at this new piece of information.

"How do you- "

"She has been, since the time I was in the A class. Maybe even before that." Teresa replied, watching as Maehara's eyes became downcast and dim.

"I… sorta knew, that she was seeing someone else, but it didn't cross my mind that it would be one of the Five Virtuosus… "

"Maehara-kun, Tsuchiya is a lying, two-timing, no-good hussy who would out you in an instant when it is convenient for her. She doesn't care about you; that's the kind of girl she is. You are better off without her. I'm telling you this because I'm worried about you." At that, Maehara gave a cheeky smirk and grabbed her hand; the one that she had placed on his shoulder during her mini-speech as a form of comfort.

"Should I take that as a confession? Are you interested in me?" He asked, smirking. His words, however, backfired as the resulted effect was not quite he had intended; or expected, for that matter.

"... I take back everything I have just said," She began, her tone gone cold, retracting her hand from his and taking a step back, now next to Karma, who eyed her in curiosity and amusement at the sudden change in behaviour, a small smirk creeping up to his lips. "Just continue being with that two-faced bitch. Go get dumped and hurt for all I care. Let's go, Karma-san!"

She then marched off, fuming slightly, Karma trailing behind closely while letting out several chuckles. Isogai and Maehara followed them with their eyes, before exchanging bewildered looks.

"Did she just- "

"Yes, she did. She just went 'Savage Queen' on us. On me! Oh god, this is the best day ever! Okajima is gonna be sooo jealous once I tell him!" Maehara squealed excitedly, quickly unlocking his phone to send a text a Okajima. Isogai stared at him, sweatdropping, before muttering to himself in a low voice, "Shouldn't what she had said be of more concern?"

* * *

"That was a swift change of character," Karma commented, his stride easily keeping up with hers. Teresa simply huffed in annoyance.

"I couldn't believe he had the chill to joke around like that, especially after I told him he was being cheated on. What an idiot!" Teresa snapped, eyebrows furrowed. Karma smirked and slung his arm on her shoulders.

"Anyways, what you said last weekend - about the free backstage pass to _lol_ 's concert next week?" Karma asked, receiving a nod and hum of acknowledgement. "Of course; I always keep my promises. Although, I must admit I am surprised that you were a fan of ' _lol_ ', Karma-kun."

Karma simply shrugged in response. "I admit, it is rather out of character for me. But Nagisa-kun introduced the band to me, and their songs aren't half-bad; they have interesting song concepts."

Teresa raised her brow slightly at the mention of the bluenette, before asking, "Hey, Karma-kun, you've known Nagisa-san for quite some time now, haven't you?"

"Yeah, we've been acquainted since our first year here; we were in the same class from the very beginning."

"You've known each other for about two and a half years now, so why is it that you still refer to him using honorifics?" The way Karma stiffened ever so slightly didn't pass her by, and she continued to question him. "Since you two have been acquainted for so long, it wouldn't be surprising if you called each other by name only, and yet, both you and Nagisa-san always add '-kun' to the end of each other's names."

"That's," Karma began, voice cold and hard as he kept his face downcast, causing Teresa to still, before he continued speaking, "something I don't want to talk about."

Both of them came to a stop, and Teresa cautiously peered towards Karma, whose whole demeanour did a one-eighty change. Teresa sensed no anger or hatred exuded in his stance, but… fear. Sheer, pure fear. Fear of being vulnerable, fear of being struck from behind, fear… of being killed.

'Does Nagisa's bloodlust scare him that much?' Teresa thought to herself, eyes wide, shocked despite herself. She had expected Karma to be on guard upon the question, but she hadn't expected such a strong reaction. Was it because that they were closer now that Karma willingly showed his true emotions to her, or was it really just that bad?

"... My apologies. I was curious, I didn't think you felt so strongly about it," Teresa stated apologetically, biting her bottom lip. Karma simply shook his head, and brushed it off with a strained smile. "Let's get going shall we?"

* * *

"What? Are you serious? **Is he serious**?!" Hinata howled, pacing back and forth in the classroom as she pulled at her hair. Teresa grinned anxiously as she watched her classmate rage in what seemed to be an endless fury.

Placing a hand on her cheek, she leaned towards Karma, who stood next to her, and questioned him, "Would it have been better if I had kept it from her?"

Karma briefly glanced her way, before taking one more look at Hinata, who was so angry, one could almost see her spitting flames as she cussed and howled. He then leaned towards her and whispered in her ear, "Yeah, I think it would have."

"Well, no use crying over spilt milk." She muttered in reply, right before Hinata whipped around to face her.

"And? What else is that idiot doing?!" Kataoka and Yada frantically waved their hands in front of them, signalling for Teresa to stop talking, but she didn't notice and continued.

"Well, I know for one he is meeting her again after school today. I caught a glimpse of his messages to her," Teresa innocently replied, unknowingly fanning the flames.

" _What_?!" She screeched, her voice an octave higher than before, causing Teresa to wince slightly - considering the fact that those words were literally directed right into her face.

"Oh god, what an idiot! He's _still_ gonna see her, even after you and Isogai warned him? And seriously, why with Tsuchiya Kaho, of all people? Is he blind; she's obviously no good!"

"I guess he is blind in a sense; he got blinded by her fakeness," Teresa pointed out, before noticing Maehara and Isogai enter the classroom at that exact moment.

"Morning, guys!" Maehara exclaimed cheerfully, only to jolt back when he was greeted with a hideous scowl from Hinata. "Woah, Okano! What's wrong?"

"You're an idiot, that's what's wrong!" She screeched, storming past him and plopped into her seat in a not-so-graceful manner.

"Uh… so, what did we miss?" Maehara questioned the rest, looking just as confused as he felt. Teresa simply shrugged and offered a coy smile. "A lot."

* * *

Korosensei has entered the classroom and was already in the middle of teaching, conducting a lesson on Japanese Literature. However, no one was really listening. Sure, they were paying attention, but not so much to his lesson as to a certain aspect of him.

'It's huge.'

"It's seriously huge.'

"His head's gotten really huge!' The sentiment was unanimous, as everyone stared at Korosensei's enlarged head, while he continued his lecture. It seemed that, seeing as no one was able to bring it up, Ritsu decided to finally break the suspense.

"Korosensei, please explain why your head has become approximately 33% larger than usual," She not so much asks as she states, earning her target's attention.

"Ah. Since it is the rainy season now, the weather up here is so humid that my head had absorbed the moisture in the atmosphere and swelled up."

"That just like uncooked rice!" Sugaya exclaimed, and Teresa spied Nagisa scribbling into his notepad.

 _Korosensei's Weakness 12: Getting wet_

"I avoided all the raindrops on my way to school," Korosensei began, a tentacle reaching up to grab his cheek and twisted it, squeezing out the water it had absorbed, which flowed into a bucket that he had next to him, "But I can't do anything about the humidity. But, with the state of our school building, there's really no helping it."

Some of the students peered around their classroom upon hearing those words; there were several cracks in the ceiling of the satellite campus, which resulted in rainwater seeping through and dripping down into the classroom. As a counter, they had taken it upon themselves to place several buckets on the ground to collect these stray water droplets.

But even then, it seemed to do little to improve their studying conditions.

"... I'm jealous of the main building and it's perfect air-conditioning," Maehara muttered, voicing everyone's thoughts. Teresa frowned at that, and studied the condition of the satellite campus. Indeed, it appeared rather run-down, clearly having not received any form of maintenance for a considerably long time. She could care less about air-conditioning or humidity - it was still tolerable for her, but if students were expected to study here, the school should at least ensure a minimal level of maintenance; they could start by repairing the damn ceiling.

Then again, all this was decided by that accursed school chairman, along with that equally infuriating system.

To be perfectly honest, she didn't quite mind the system. However, she strongly believed that as students - and more importantly, as humans - they deserved a certain amount of respect, even if they were in the lowest rung. And this treatment was just about enough to push her to her limit. Once again, curse that chairman.

Kurahashi suddenly perked up when she looked up to face Korosensei, and asked, "Korosensei, what happened to your hat? It looks a little loose…"

"How perceptive of you, Hinano-san. That's because it has finally grown -" Korosensei paused dramatically, before removing his cap, "- my hair, that is."

"That's a mushroom!" Mimura hollered. His exclamation was easily brushed aside, and Korosensei reached up to pluck it off his head, before proceeding to munch on it. "Even the rainy season has its benefits. Let's spend these dreary, wet days in high spirits!"

"You can eat it, even though it your hair?" Teresa muttered in slight bewilderment. Korosensei heard her question anyways and began to reply, "Ah, that's because-"

"Aaand I'm gonna stop you right there," Teresa interjected politely, holding up a hand with an uneasy smile. "It's nice and all that you would explain it to me, but I don't think I would be able to swallow my lunch later if I heard the end of that."

"Nyuya! That's not- !"

"Well said, Teresa-chan," Hara spoke up, the usual cheerful grin in place. "That makes two of us."

Korosensei gave a horrified expression as he cried, "Hara-san!"

* * *

The day seemed to drag on forever, till the end of school finally came. Teresa stretched her arms over her head, eliciting a few cracks from her shoulders and fingers. She let out a low moan of relief, before dropping her arms to her sides, and looked around.

It seemed that the rainy season was having an effect on the atmosphere; it was so dreary, and it was evident that the students were seemingly dispirited. All in all, it was rather boring lately, especially after the whole ordeal with Irina and Lovro's little competition.

"Teresa-chan," Hearing Karma call out to her, Teresa looked up to face the crimson-haired male and he continued, "Nagisa-kun and the others are going to hang out for a bit before going our separate ways. Wanna come with?"

Teresa then looked towards Nagisa, and saw the said male with Kayano, Sugino, Kanzaki, and surprisingly, Hinata. She thought about it - she could use the change of tempo; whether or not it was because of the dreariness of the rainy season, she wasn't sure, but she was admittedly feeling bored these past few days. Especially with the lack of events and hardly anything about Korosensei to note. She offered a sweet smile and replied, "Sure! Just let me inform my chauffeur."

She whipped out her phone and quickly drafted a message to Edward. As soon as she had hit the send button, a message from Gid came in. Raising a brow, she opened the notification to view it, and when she scanned through the content of the message, she raised both brows.

'Temporary undercover mission in Hawaii? Regarding some of the illegal activities of Will Cruise…' Teresa clicked her tongue softly, before sending back an 'understood'. She swiftly pocketed her phone before anyone could get a glimpse of those… incriminating messages, and headed towards Karma and the rest after picking up her bag.

* * *

"I **still** can't believe he is still going out to see her! After everything you told him!" Hinata exclaimed angrily, harshly biting down on her spoon in an agitated fashion. The seven of them were seated around a table, either with a drink or parfait in hand. Teresa used the pointed spoon to scoop out a bit of ice cream from her strawberry parfait before popping it into her mouth, as she studied the enraged gymnast. Removing the spoon from her lips, she propped her elbow on the table before resting her chin on the back of her fist, eyes boring into Hinata.

"Why do you care?"

"Huh?!" Hinata nearly screeched, whipping her head towards Teresa, a furiously bewildered expression on her face. Nagisa sheepishly signalled for her to lower down her voice, and she calmed down slightly, before resuming to glare at Teresa. "How could I not?"

"It's just, you're far too agitated for someone who is simply worried about him. And I honestly doubt it's just because the significant other is Kaho," Teresa reasoned, an small, amused grin playing her lips. Hinata backed away, a complicated expression on her face. Realisation dawned on the rest upon hearing Teresa's words, and one by one, their heads turned towards Hinata.

"Could it be that you're experiencing jealousy, Okano-san?" Teresa asked, and the said girl jumped in her seat, cheeks flushed pink as she harshly objected. "O-Of course not! The only thing I want to burn* is that idiot's hair! Why would I be **jealous**? Pshh, of that ugly, no-good hussy? No way!"

As she turned away to hide her increasingly-red face, the rest exchanged knowing looks.

'She's jealous.'

"Definitely jealous.'

'Totally jealous.'

"I can practically hear what you're thinking, and I'm saying I'm not!" Hinata exclaimed, a pitch away from screeching, utterly flustered. Teresa brought her hand to her lips as she offered a coy smile.

"You say that, but with that expression, I can't help but see it as denial." With that, Hinata gave up and wilted away. "I'm telling you, it's not like that…"

Soon, they finished their drinks and parfaits, and made their way out. Walking down the street, Kayano spotted the 24-hour mart and squealed. "They're having a sale on my favourite brand of pudding! Come on, Nagisa! Let's go!"

With that, she grabbed Nagisa by the arm, and pulled him into the mart, with him letting out a squeak of surprise. Resignedly, everyone followed the duo into the mart. As they walked and looked around, Kanzaki spotted a familiar trio.

"Hey everyone, isn't that…?" Following Kanzaki line of sight, the group found themselves staring at Kataoka, Kurahashi and Hayami, who were gathered around a shelf stocked with sweets. Apparently sensing their stare, the trio turned around and eyes widened upon seeing the group.

"You guys…" Hayami began, trailing off at the end.

"Buying stuff too?" Kataoka asked, a pleasant smile on her lips. Kanzaki flashed a sheepish smile as she let out an uneasy laugh. "Ahaha… actually, we're here because Kaede-chan wanted to buy pudding. Apparently, they are having a sale."

"Ah." It's become known after the Kyoto trip that Kayano had an extremely sweet tooth, and that she absolutely loved pudding in particular. They spotted the said greenette already approaching them, a mountain of pudding cups in her arms, with Nagisa trailing closely behind her, sighing slightly.

"Ah~ Pudding, pudding!" Kayano sang, walking off to the cashier, not noticing how everyone was staring at her like she had grown a second head.

"L-Let's quickly pay for what we wanted and get going," Kataoka suggested, and Hayami and Kurahashi nodded in agreement, still in slight stupor at the visual proof of Kayano's obsession.

* * *

"Pudding, pudding~!" Kayano was still singing happily, eating scoop after scoop of pudding as she walked, a whole plastic bag full of pudding cups hanging from her forearm as she walked. Everyone else stared at her in slight exasperation.

"She sure is putting them away at lightspeed, isn't she?" Teresa murmured, and Hayami, who happened to be standing next to her, nodded in agreement, replying, "You said it."

"C'mon~" Sugino drawled, sneaking a hand towards the cup Kayano currently had in her hands, tongue sticking out of the playful smile he had on. "Lemme have one of those strawberries on top."

"No way! I always eat the most delicious thing last!" Apparently, amongst all that cups of pudding was an ice cream cup, with strawberries on top, which Sugino had been eyeing for the past few minutes. Clearly Kayano wasn't about share any of it. Sighing slightly, Teresa turned towards Hinata, only to find her staring off in a distance at something - or rather, someone - else. Following her gaze, she found herself staring at a couple of students from their school - she'd say a beautiful couple if it weren't for who the female of the couple was.

"Hey guys. Look at that," Hinata called out, and the rest of the group were staring in the same direction, towards the couple under the same umbrella.

"Ah… isn't that Maehara?" Nagisa asked, and Hinata nodded before replying, "And I'm pretty sure the one next to him is Tsuchiya Kaho."

"Oho~ As popular as always," Sugino commented, like it was a good thing. Teresa clicked her tongue and looked away, much to everyone's surprise. The look on her face said it all; she was seemingly revolted by the mere sight of Kaho. "And after all the warnings I gave him… what an idiot."

"You seem to be immensely offended just by looking at her." Karma stated.

"I am. Back in the main campus, she threatened me to stay away from the Five Virtuosus, putting emphasis on Seo and Asano-kun. I wouldn't be surprised if she was pining for both of them, and Maehara-kun at the same time. Just looking at her leaves a bad taste in my mouth," Teresa replied, tone neutral and eyes hardened.

"If you ask me, she's worse than Bitch-sensei. Bitch-sensei seduces men for her job, and eventually eliminates them, but Tsuchiya is still much more horrible." Hayami stated, looking as neutral as she sounded, but there was a clear glint of disgust in her eyes.

"Her presence is ruining the taste of my pudding…" Kayano said, trailing off at the end as a sour look appeared on her face.

"I see, I see." Hearing a familiar voice Nagisa glanced to his side, and jolted in surprise at the sight of the source. "Maehara-kun, sharing an umbrella in front of the station…"

"Keeping unnecessary tabs on your students again, Korosensei?" Teresa deadpanned.

"Your love for gossips about your students is never-changing too, Korosensei," Sugino commented, facing the said octopus, who was in cloaked in a pink-and-white polka dotted poncho while scribbling in a small notepad with a sleazy grin.

"Nurufufufu. This is also a teacher's duty," Korosensei replied, chuckling. He then shut his notepad and looked at his fellow students with his cheery grin and pink cheeks, before continuing to say, "I plan to release a non-fiction novel by the third semester of all the student's love stories. The very first chapter will be about Sugino's feelings, which will never reach Kanzaki-san…"

"Urgh… I've definitely got to kill you before that makes to the press," Sugino growled, cheeks flushing slightly while a vein near his temple bulged.

"Pardon?" Kanzaki asked, a surprised look on her face. Sugino's face then turned red as he backed away from her, as though he had touched fire. "N-Nothing of concern, Kanzaki-san!"

"I see…" Kanzaki muttered, looking somewhat depressed for a moment, before it disappeared as soon as it came. The other girls exchanged looks upon noticing this.

"Do you think Yukiko-chan… about Sugino-kun…" Kayano whispered to Teresa, who nodded in response. "I think so."

"She was definitely upset about how he moved away from her," Hayami added, before Korosensei's next words caught her attention.

"After which, would be a chapter on the - possibly - romantic feelings between Chiba-kun and Hayami-san-"

"There's nothing going on between me and Chiba!" Hayami exclaimed indignantly, unlike her usual cool and composed self. This resulted in everyone staring at her, eyes slightly wide with surprise and amusement. Noticing the attention she brought upon herself, she coughed awkwardly and turned away. "... I was just trying to make a point."

Korosensei simply grinned and continued down his list. "It will be followed by a bright couple - Kataoka-san and Isogai-kun, with the trail of broken hearts in the shadows they cast-"

"Those aren't on purpose! It's not **my** fault that those girls keep confessing to me! And there's isn't anything special going on between me and Isogai-kun; we're just friends!" Kataoka said, a pitch away from yelling.

"Never say never~" Korosensei replied in a sing-song voice, before resuming, "Teresa-san's possible feelings for Maehara-kun-"

"Perish the thought." Teresa's voice was ice with a stiff smile playing her lips. Korosensei jolted in shock at her cold tone, and even the students were watching her warily. "Maehara-kun is just a classmate - there are no special feelings involved. Besides, playboys and flirts aren't my type at all."

"Oh? Then what is your type, Teresa-san?" Korosensei inquired politely, as he quickly cancelled a certain pointer on his notepad and readied his pen - probably to scribble down whatever she was about to say.

"Hm… He must intelligent and exceptionally physically apt. I'm not into cowards who run away from a fight - physical or not. I'm not fond of the idea of being in a relationship with someone younger than me, so that's out; preferably someone of the same age or older, but the age gap must be no larger seven years," No sooner had Teresa began, did Korosensei start scribbling furiously in his notepad, while the students listened intently, the girls in particular hanging on her every word.

"I'm not very particular about looks - I find character and good personality much more important - but it would be preferred if he at least good-looking; no one want someone who's butt-ugly. I especially like men who are hardworking and diligent, even if they don't look like it; it means they put in effort into everything, including their relationships." Teresa stated, a finger tapping her chin as she did. She pondered over it a moment longer, before another point popped up in her mind.

"And they have to be honest and loyal. No one wants a liar and a cheater for a lover."

While the males marveled at her in-depth description, the girls' were thinking about something else.

'That…'

'That sound just like…'

'Karma-kun!' The girls thought in unison as they stared at Teresa in disbelief. It didn't seem that the red-haired male noticed he fit the description, judging by the thoughtful look on his face.

'It's like she indirectly confessed to Karma-kun!' Kurahashi thought, and apparently the rest of girls knew what she was thinking, because when they exchanged looks with her, they nodded in agreement.

"I see, I see. This is rather interesting…" Korosensei murmured, pen scrawling at inhuman speeds. "There are already a few gentlemen in mind that fits the bill…"

"... Please do not pair me up with random males, Korosensei," Teresa said dryly.

"Is that all you want in a partner?" Nagisa asked, causing Teresa to raise a brow in his direction. "From what I gather, all that you have mentioned is regarding him. What about yourself? Where do you come into the picture?"

Understanding where Nagisa was getting at, Teresa looked away, shoulders drooping as a solemn smile touched her lips, eyes dimming slightly. She then brought both hands over her chest, where her heart was, and said, "Well, I would like someone who can understand and yet still accept all of me…"

'But that's not going to be possible, not in this life or the next. And definitely not in this classroom…' She thought, eyes downcast. Noticing the obvious drop in the mood, everyone fell silent. Korosensei stared at Teresa, in one of his rare expressionless phases. As he thought, there was far more to her than met the eye, and it gnawed at him whenever he saw her get like this. He desperately wanted to know the depths of the darkness her heart harboured - he feared it may do great harm to her in the future.

"Well, that aside!" Teresa suddenly declared, smiling brightly like she usually did, she turned to face Nagisa. "What about you, Nagisa-san?"

"Eh?"

"What is your type?"

Nagisa fidgeted slightly as he thought about it, and eventually replied, "I guess… someone who would see me for a guy?"

"Ahh…" Teresa trailed off. 'Come to think of it, doesn't he have a complex over his looks?'

"Anyways," Hinata interrupted, "Maehara-kun's chapter is bound to be pretty long."

"Definitely longer than Megu-tan's!" Kurahashi chirps excitedly, "He's extremely popular with girls, so the one he's with is constantly changing."

'Of course,' Nagisa thought as he stared at the tawny-haired male, who had reached out to grab Tsuchiya and pull her to his chest by the shoulder, preventing her from stepping into a considerably large puddle. 'He's good-looking guy who's active in a variety of athletics. If he were in a normal school, with better grades, he would probably be even more popular.'

"Isogai-kun has mentioned that Maehara is loyal, though," Kataoka said, shrugging.

"What do you mean by 'loyal'?" Kurahashi questioned.

"Like, 'doesn't cheat' kind of loyal?" Okuda suggested, unsure of how to better explain.

"He does go out with lots of girls, just not at the same time," Hayami stated, as she continued studying the couple, the crease in the forehead deepening with each passing second.

"Which is more than we can say for Kaho," Teresa said, finishing off Hayami's statement, also frowning at the said brunette.

"To validate Teresa-san's statement, Ryu- Chiba has mentioned that she asked him out before," Hayami said, appearing positively pissed by the very thought.

"Two-timer. Hate those types; they're the worst," Kayano added, sticking out her tongue in disgust.

"Maybe she'll change eventually?" Sugino suggested, shrugging. "You'll never know."

Kayano, Hayami and Teresa shared a dry look before slowly turning around to face the baseball fanatic with deadpan expressions, and monotonously replied in unison, "Famous last words."

* * *

"Hmm? If it isn't Kaho. What're you up to?" A new voice cuts in, garnering everyone's attention. The spying group and the couple turned towards the source, and found themselves staring at a group of boys, more specifically, students from the A class. The one who spoke up stood in front of the group, visibly slightly taller than Maehara - but definitely not as good-looking - with his lips pulled into a sneer.

* * *

"A new ambiguity," Hayami stated monotonously, as she observed the exchange. "A hideously ugly one, too."

Hinata and Kayano burst in fits of muffled laughter, with Karma and Sugino joining in soon after. Nagisa and Okuda simply smiles nervously, while Kurahashi and Kataoka exchange looks.

"That's… Seo." Teresa's words were all it took for the laughter to dissipate, and instantly the atmosphere turned anxious.

* * *

"A-Ah, Seo-kun!" Kaho exclaimed, nervousness clearly laced in her tone as she rushes towards Seo, more or less shoving Maehara away in the process. "You've finished your duties rather quickly. Weren't you staying back for student council work?"

"Oh, we finished up earlier than expected," Seo replied, before directing his attention from Kaho to Maehara. "Hm? If I'm not mistaken, that guy is…"

* * *

"As Fuwa-san would put it, plot twist!" Kayano announced, smirking evilly. "Show your true colours, busty lady!"

"Oh yes, please do," Hinata snarled in agreement. Teresa sweatdropped at how the atmosphere instantly turned bloodthirsty with those two. 'And what's with their animosity towards girls with larger chests?'

"She's not that large," Kataoka awkwardly said, trying to reason with them. "She's… about my size."

"But she's a phony. A fake!" Kayano exclaimed, frowning at Kaho.

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were padded with tissue or something," Hinata sneered, outright glaring at Tsuchiya.

* * *

Kaho laughed nervously while her face was drained of colour, clearly desperate to get herself out of this 'misunderstanding' - except it wasn't a misunderstanding - that she was guilty of. "Y-You've got it all wrong, Seo-kun… I didn't have my umbrella, and he just happened to come along and offered his… "

"You brought yours this morning, though." Seo replied, apparently not buying her words any more than their 'spectators' did.

"I-I forgot it at school…" It was clear as day that she was lying.

* * *

Kataoka clicked her tongue, folding her arms across her chest as she frowned at Tsuchiya disapprovingly. "She obviously still hasn't learnt."

* * *

Maehara silently watched the exchange, before sighing and giving an exasperated smile. "Ah, so that's how it is. Lately, you've hardly ever answered the phone when I call, and you suddenly switched from bicycling to commuting by train. So, you figured you'd keep me around for when your new boyfriend's busy?"

His words clearly struck a nerve in Seo, who whipped his head around to direct a furious glare towards Kaho, who instinctively backed away. "Kaho, you little…!"

"H-He's wrong! It's not like that at all!" Kaho exclaimed, panic evident on her face as she held both hands up in surrender. "It's not like that…"

Kaho had her head downcast at this point, guilt written all over her face. All of a sudden, her demeanour morphed. Into something hideous. For a moment, a ominous smirk flashed across her face, before it turned into a confident gaze.

* * *

"And I sense something utterly disgusting about to spill out of that garbage truck of a mouth," Kayano said, snarling slightly as she did. The students around looked towards her, slightly shaken by her wording and behaviour.

"You… seem rather angsty today, Kayano-san," Okuda shakily commented.

"I don't blame her… this is Kaho we're talking about, after all. There's no telling the lengths she would go just to have her way. Not to mention she is a total bit-"

"Okano-san, language," Teresa said emotionlessly. Hinata turned towards Teresa with her mouth open, ready to fire back, but paused when she realised that Teresa, too, was silently observing the scene that was about to unravel with dull eyes. She eventually clamped her mouth shut and looked back towards the front.

* * *

"Hey, don't you know that you're bad news. You didn't put in enough effort and ended up falling into class E, the bottom of the pack, Maehara-kun," she stated, an aura of superiority exuding her stance as she pointed her index finger towards the said male, who stilled upon hearing her bring up that fact, and raised a brow in confusion.

"On top of that, the students of class E don't advance to Kunugigaoka High School. And sooner or later, we'd have lost touch anyways," Kaho continued, unfazed by Maehara's reaction. Raising both arms in a shrug, a cruel smirk played her lips. "I thought you might be in shock over falling into class E, so I felt anxious and didn't clearly state that we'd broken up, but I wish you'd have noticed even without me saying it, though."

* * *

"She actually picked the butt-ugly one. With the weird voice," Kayano chastised, shaking her head in disappointment.

* * *

"Hahaha! There's no way he'd figure it out with that class E brain of his!" Seo sneered, cackling with a wicked gleam in his eyes.

* * *

"Look in a damn mirror, asshat," Kayano seethed. Hinata sniggered in response.

* * *

"Of course not," Kaho giggles. "He's far too stupid to even make the simplest assumptions."

* * *

"... What a moron. He doesn't even realise that Kaho just admitted to be two-timing them, and he's calling Maehara-kun stupid?" Hayami stated, a furious look in her eyes despite her usual stoic expression. She wasn't the only one; the rest were also seething in anger, and Karma and Sugino in particular looked just about ready to join in the fray. Karma had taken a step forward, ready to jump in, but stopped upon feeling a tug on his sleeve.

Turning around, he stared at Teresa, whose gaze had turned red-hot in silent fury. "Not yet," she mouthed out, and Karma, despite wanting to ignore her warning and just punch the living crap out of Seo, decided to listen to Teresa and patiently waited.

* * *

At this point, Maehara's eyes narrowed and his brows furrowed into a glare of his own, and stepped forward. The action seemed to effectively scare Kaho, who took a few steps back in alarm, a terrified expression on her face.

"... That's like the pot calling the kettle black," Maehara began, but he didn't manage to continue, as a harsh kick to the gut cut him off. The impact forced him right into a large puddle of water, partially drenching him. Apparently, Maehara hadn't seen it coming, for when he slowly rose into a sitting position, he appeared more surprised than hurt or angry.

Seo stepped forward and towered over Maehara, before saying, "You really don't get it, do you? We're not going to be in the same high school, so even if we do anything to you, you won't cause any trouble for us in the future."

With that, the boys gathered around Maehara and ganged up on him, kicking at him mercilessly. "Now, give Kaho a proper apology for using the same umbrella!"

* * *

"Now?"

"... Now," Teresa replied, letting go of Karma, who practically flew over to Maehara's side and socked Seo right in the jaw, sending the said boy flying backwards, The other two males paused in surprise, before one of them earned a harsh kick to the side by Karma, while the other earned a fist to the head by Sugino.

"Wha- Akabane! Sugino!" Seo exclaimed, taken aback by their sudden appearance. Kaho, who finally caught on, began to make a run for it, only to be grabbed by the wrist by Hinata, who had suddenly appeared beside her. The short-haired girl said nothing, before suddenly raising her foot and slamming it right into Kaho's face.

"Karma, Sugino… and Okano too..." Maehara began, before realising what was happening. He let out a nervous chuckle before looking back up at the trio, and noticed the rest approaching them. "Were you guys watching?"

"Only because we were worried about you, Maehara-kun," Teresa replied, removing her school blazer - which she had chosen to wear today - and placed it over his shoulders. "Don't try to move; you might have a contusion on your abdomen from that kick just now."

"... Please don't tell Yuuma," Maehara muttered, as the class A boys began to regain themselves, and a fist-fight broke out between them and Karma and Sugino. Although, with Karma's superior physical prowess and experience with street-fighting, and Sugino's baseball background, they were definitely the ones pushing. Meanwhile, Okano was personally teaching Kaho a lesson she would not be forgetting anytime soon.

"Too late," Kataoka spoke up, holding up her handphone. "I just called him and told him everything."

She and Teresa exchanged a nod, before Teresa turned back to the fight, just in time to see Karma nimbly dodge a clumsy punch by one of the class A boys - who clearly had no experience in fighting - and grabbed the culprit by the neck, tightening his hold around in. Watching the poor male sputter desperately for air, Karma let out a satisfied hum, before throwing his aside like he weighed nothing, and caused him to roll over near to where Maehara was.

"You okay, pretty boy?" Karma asked, but didn't wait for an answer as Seo - albeit timidly - lunged forward, only to get kneed in the stomach and forced backwards.

"Are you alright, Maehara-kun?" Kurahashi asked, with Hayami and Okuda too crouched down around him, clearly concerned about his well-being.

"Yeah. The only thing hurting right now is my pride," Maehara replied jokingly, before being cut off by a high-pitched squeal.

"Yeah, you show her! Teach that phony a lesson, Okano-san!" Kayano exclaimed, throwing in a few hard slaps herself. Those who weren't fighting eyed the greenette warily.

"... Remind me never to get on her bad side…" Maehara muttered, and the rest nodded in agreement. The brawling resumed for a few more moments, before a deep, commanding voice cuts in, causing all of them to freeze.

"That's enough."

All of them stopped and turned towards the source, finding themselves staring at a sleek, black car that had pulled over at the side of the road, and the door opens, allowing someone to exit. Teresa clicked her tongue as they found themselves face to face with the Chairman, Asano Gakuhou. 'Talk about terrible timing…'

"B-Board Chairman!" Seo exclaimed aloud, as if seeing him wasn't enough to make his presence aware. Gakuhou slowly approached them, all the while a warm smile on his lips.

"Violence isn't the answer. You are allowing yourselves to become as wild as the weather today," he stated, walking towards the group of students.

"Y-Yes sir…" Seo replied. He and the other two boys were visibly trembling as Gakuhou walked right past them, not sparing them a second glance, and went straight towards Maehara. He then kneels down in front of the said male, a knee going straight into a puddle of water as he took out a neatly-folded handkerchief, handing it to him. "Please, use this to dry yourself. I am glad I managed to step in before things took a turn for the worst, am I right, Akabane-kun?"

"Hmm? I don't know, I've been itching for some blood actually," Karma replied, sighing dramatically as he did. "I barely got any, to be honest…" He continued, showing Gakuhou his fist. On his knuckles were fresh blood spread across, and though it wasn't that much, it was enough to make Gakuhou's expression harden slightly.

Deciding to push his luck even further, Karma stuck out his tongue and swiped it across his knuckles, lapping up the crimson liquid in the process, before licking his own lips. He then flashed a devilish, toothy smirk and added, "It tastes good enough, though…"

At this, the girls were sufficiently disturbed, and warily turned their heads towards Teresa, who was simply smiling resignedly.

"Remind me again what's so great about him?" Hayami asked, and Teresa shrugged in response. "He can get like that; it's not the first time I've seen him like this. Although I admit he is going a little overboard, doing that in front of the Chairman…"

"Akabane, you really do enjoy testing my patience. That's what makes you intriguing; the stronger one seems, the bigger their weakness. Find the pin and you can pop the balloon," Gakuhou declared, laughing slightly.

"Ah, yes. But in the recent years, it's proven that you can stick a pin so far into a balloon and have it remain strong," Karma countered with a sadistic smirk, a mocking gleam in his eyes.

With that, she walked towards Karma, fishing out a sheet of tissue with one hand as she gently grasped his fist with the other, fazing him.

"Do stop that, Karma-san. You aren't a savage - you shouldn't pull that sort of thing in front of you-know-who," she stated, wiping the blood of his knuckles, before crumpling the used sheet of tissue into her fist and pocketing it. Gakuhou regained himself and slowly rose to a stand once more, before offering a kind smile.

"Ah, Amano-san, it's a pleasure to see that you are well."

"Yes, yes… I wish I could say the same, though that would be a lie," Teresa replied, smiling angelically. The others were caught off-guard by her smile, they nearly missed her words.

"What would be: the fact that I am well, or that it is a pleasure to see me?"

"The latter. I mean, who on this green earth would actually be happy to see you?" She answered, grinning cheerfully. Gakuhou didn't appear the least bit offended, and actually chuckled along.

"Out of all my students, you certainly are the most interesting one I've come across. No one has dared to so blatantly insult me the way you do. And although my son does do that often, it's because I raised him that way, and even than he doesn't compare to you."

"Of course he can't. I haven't come all this way for nothing, you know? Why else would I be an Amano?" Teresa said confidently, smiling sweetly.

"Indeed. Someone of your caliber and capability should be in the A class. Don't you think it's about time you ended this little farce and returned to the main campus?" Gakuhou suggested, apparently in earnest, earning shocked looks from the class A students. This only served to piss Teresa off even more, and even though she was angry, it wasn't evident on her face. Especially not with that radiant smile.

"Over my dead body, you heartless prick of a chairman," she said in a sugary-sweet tone, which served well to coat the venom behind her words. But it did nothing to lessen the pressure between herself and the Chairman; on the contrary, the tension thickened to the point it was suffocating.

"W-What's even happening right now?" Kataoka muttered, shaken by the exchange between the Chairman and Teresa.

"No idea…" Hayami replied.

"At any rate, all of you were very close to being removed from this school," Gakuhou declared, staring at every class E student in the eyes, before his steely gaze landed on Maehara. "Especially you, Maehara-kun, since you insinuated this fight, Maehara-kun."

At those words, Maehara's lips quivered slightly, but he met Gakuhou's gaze head-on, unwavering. However, those very words were the undoing of Teresa's patience.

"Quit screwing around." The harshness of her voice immediately earned her Gakuhou's attention, his eyes wide with mild surprise, clearly taken aback by her brazen words and behaviour. Instead of a smile, a furious scowl made its way to her lips, and her amethyst-golden orb flashed indignantly.

"Whatever do you mean, Amano-san?"

"That's my line. What the hell do you mean, 'we' were close to being removed? If anything, your precious class A students should be responsible, since it wasn't Maehara-kun, but they who had started the fight." She stated, her voice even, but it was evident to Gakuhou that she was holding back from lashing out.

"Oh? But it was Maehara-kun who had insinuated it-"

"But they were the ones who raised a hand at us first. If Maehara-kun is responsible for insinuating it, then shouldn't Seo also be responsible for kicking Maehara-kun and initiating a physical fight?" She countered, cutting him off. Seo weakly spluttered at her declaration.

"Oh? And do you have any proof of that?" Gakuhou inquired with a thin smile, clearly testing her. Her face mirrored his, and she took out her phone and showed a video. Which happened to start from when they first spotted Maehara to right before Karma stepped in. Gakuhou's smile fell slightly while the class A students guiltily looked away.

"I think this is enough proof of that, don't you?" Teresa stated as soon as the video ended, and turned the phone to have the screen face her. "And what do you think would happen if this video went viral? Not to mention if I contacted their parents, the police and the board of education, what do think would happen then? Your dear class A students can kiss their lives and futures goodbye."

Satisfaction filled her being when she saw the way they paled at the thought, but Gakuhou stepped in once more. "Do you think I would really allow that?"

"You must also be affected by today's weather, or else you wouldn't even suggest such a thing. Trying to prevent that would also make you responsible for this. This is clear, conclusive evidence of bullying amongst your students; no matter how much influence you have in the board of education, do you really think they would allow a school with a system that allows bullying to occur to continue operating?" Teresa questioned, raising a brow as a crazed expression took over her. Gakuhou's eyes hardened in response, realising she was right.

Seeing that he did not make a counter, she continued speaking. "Besides, your school system is one that is supposed to clearly distinguish the superior and inferior, as you would put it. But that should only be limited to academics. I don't think it serves as a legitimate excuse to allow students to physically bully others just because of it; there's a fine line that should be identified and never crossed. Could it be… that your system has a flaw, my dear Chairman?"

At this, Gakuhou's body stiffened momentarily, before he looked straight into Teresa's eyes, his cold and merciless for the first time. In that instance, Teresa felt a chilling sensation across her being, and something gnawing at her, creeping up into her heart and soul. And she didn't like it. She hadn't felt this vulnerable in… forever, and he wasn't even armed.

"Are you suggesting… I made a mistake? That I am wrong?" He slowly started, venom laced in each word he spoke. Teresa remained stoic, trying to shake off this terribly uncomfortable feeling she was having. It didn't feel right, it felt almost as if…

He was trying to control her, literally.

Mere willpower wasn't going to be enough to keep whatever this weird ability was at bay. Teresa's lips were then pressed in a thin line as she realised what it was that she had to do to regain control. And it didn't help that her target was watching from just around the corner.

But she'd only let him win when hell freezes over, which is to say; never. At once, she dropped all pretenses. In that moment, she was no longer a student of class E or a member of the Amano family, but the assassin Teresa.

She reopened her eyes once more - which had been closed - and revealed them to be spiritless, the look of death in them. Everyone immediately realized the one-eighty change in her demeanour - even the usually warm aura around her had dissipated to nothingness, leaving a very cold and empty feeling. She then met Gakuhou's eyes in an even and leveled stare, and instantly let out her restrained bloodlust, effectively fazing him.

"That's exactly what I'm saying. Got a problem with it?" She stated calmly, all traces of her usual manner of speech gone, sounding completely unlike herself. Or rather, she had become someone else entirely.

For the first time, Gakuhou was stunned speechless. He remained silent as he stared at her, long and hard. There was something particularly familiar about the aura she was exuding, and he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. He decided he would question Gid about it later; he would know.

Seeing as his trump card was useless against her, Gakuhou eventually dropped the intense stare and gave her warm smile once more, before replying, "I apologise if I have offended you, Amano-san. What do you suggest I do, then?"

"Proper retribution. Because it would be more accurate to say that Tsuchiya-san was the one who insinuated this fight - by two-timing Maehara-kun and Seo - plus Seo was the one who initiated a physical fight," Teresa stated, pocketing her phone and folding her arms across her chest, before putting her walls back up.

Gakuhou's eyes hardened at that, before they slid over to the two, who were too visibly shaken to notice him staring at them. It was then Seo began to speak up.

"D-Don't be so full of yourself! Who do you think you are, speaking to the Chairman in that manner!"

"Y-Yeah! And even if we did initiate the fight, it is against the rules for class E student to raise a hand towards students of the main campus!" Kaho piped up as well, only for the both of them to get shot down by Teresa.

"Since you initiated physical violence, what we did was merely self-protection," Teresa began, and just as they were about to speak up once more, her voice dropped to a murderous growl. "Shut your pieholes, or I'll shove my arms, up your asses, and knock your teeth out!"

Her voice had raised to a bellow at the end while her British accent slipped out, and at that, the couple paled and clamped their mouths shut. They didn't believe it, but they suspected that she meant it and was fully capable of fulfilling her word. At her words, there was a rather awkward silence, and Karma just had to let out a low whistle while raising both brows, eyeing Teresa.

Slightly unnerved, Gakuhou cleared his throat, gathering the attention of all the students, and questioned Teresa, "So, when you say 'proper retribution', how severe should their punishments be?"

"That's up to you to suggest and for me to decide, isn't it?" Teresa replied, seemingly having calmed down, as she waved her handphone around, reminding him of the incriminating evidence she held in her hands. Gakuhou sighed and pondered over it for a moment.

"One week of assorting books in the library after school hours."

Teresa pretended to consider it, placing the edge of her phone on her lips, before shaking her head, saying, "Not good enough."

"Two weeks of clearing trash around campus."

"... Are you even trying?" Teresa question, tightening her grip around her handphone as she narrowed her eyes into a condescending stare directed at the Chairman. Gakuhou let out a low sigh, before relenting to the worst he had in mind.

"One month of doing odd jobs. I won't budge past this point," He said, eliciting a hum of approval from Teresa, who nodded in understanding. "Very well, I guess I can settle for that."

With that, Gakuhou flashed an easy smile to the class A students - which caused Teresa to frown - and waved to them, bidding them goodbye. "Well then, everyone, take care on your way home. Goodbye."

"W-We will! Goodbye!" Kaho stuttered in response, bowing respectfully towards him, as he walked back into the limo. The boys from the A class warily glanced at Teresa, clearly having more to say, but instead bit their lips and silently retreated. However, Kaho didn't see any reason to hold back from confronting Maehara.

"Getting jealous and then picking a fight? I didn't think you were such an ugly person at heart," Kaho began, a condescending gleam in her eyes as she glared down at Maehara, who returned it with equal fervor. "Don't ever look at or speak to me aga- Ah!"

Kaho's words were cut off by a harsh slap to the face from Hinata, whose glare was incinerating as it was directed to the brunette, causing Kaho to flinch. "Just shut up and take a hike, bitch."

Kaho gritted her teeth, looking like she wanted to say more, but caught sight of the silent, deadly stare Teresa was directing at her and paled, before quickly backing off and rushing over to Seo's side, wrapping her arms around his.

"Well… that was terrifying. Especially when the Chairman appeared. He sure knows how to look suave, even in a losing battle," Maehara commented, in light of the exchange between Teresa and Gakuhou. Sugino knelt down next to him and snarled, "Forget about the chairman; the problem was that girl! What a bitch!"

Sugino then stilled for a moment, before a deadpan expression took over. "No, wait… We've got a bitch in our class, too."

"But," Nagisa began, staring off at the direction Kaho had walked off, "Bitch-sensei is a professional. She knows when to be bitchy, and when not to be. She isn't insensitive to other people's feelings, she knows when the jig is up and where to draw the line. Kaho isn't as sophisticated as that."

"Yeah, well, I don't really care if she is a bitch."

"You don't?!" Nagisa exclaimed in shock, whipping his head around to stare at Maehara. Karma didn't seem satisfied with that, and began to speak once more. "She's worse than a bitch, though. She's a slut, a whore, a-"

"I'm gonna stop you right there," Kataoka said, placing a hand Karma's shoulder as she cut him off, a disapproving frown on her face. It was right at this moment when they heard footsteps approaching them, and when they turned around to look, they immediately recognised the raven-haired male who was rapidly making his way towards them. What they didn't recognise was the look of sheer panic on his face.

"Hiroto!" Isogai exclaimed, coming to a stop before the chestnut-haired male, before falling on his knees to inspect Maehara. "Oh god, I heard from Kataoka that it was bad, but I didn't think it would be this severe!"

Maehara fidgeted nervously, unsure of how to react to Isogai's display of concern. "U-Uh, I-"

"Why did you still go out to see her? I specifically told you to break it off as soon as you saw her, didn't I? Why don't you ever listen to me?!" At Isogai's irritated exclamation, Maehara felt his own agitation rise, and began firing back much to Isogai's chagrin.

"I know, but I thought it'd be too rude to do it immediately! Also, you don't have to yell at me just to emphasize on that point!"

"Well, you should've listened to me and did as I said, then! Otherwise, I'd have no reason to be yelling at you now!"

"Well, sorry that I'm a gentleman who doesn't want hurt a lady's feelings!"

"Yeah, and look where that got you!" At this point, the two males had their faces barely millimeters away from each other as they glared at the opposing other ferociously. After a few tense moments, both boys dropped their glares and sighed simultaneously. Maehara was the first one to start laughing.

"How long has it been since we fought like that?"

"Since fifth grade, when you stole some of my lunch," Isogai replied matter-of-factly, taking out a neatly folded handkerchief from his pocket to wipe off some dirt that got onto Maehara's cheek. Hinata walked over and handed Maehara a hand towel, as he slowly rose to a stand - admittedly with some assistance from Isogai.

"Anyway, going back to the matter at hand, I don't really care if she's a bitch or not. Falling in love is as easy as falling out of it. And when I do, I'll just move on," Maehara stated, patting at his pants to get rid of any specs of dirt, before accepting the towel from Hinata. The said girl made a face at Hiroto.

"You're only in your third year of junior high, and you've already achieved that kind of zen-dating?" She asked, disbelief evident in her words.

"But, you saw how that bitch was just now, didn't you?" Kayano began, arms folded across her chest, as she continued to speak, disgust and malice dripping from every word. "She felt guilty and tried to excuse her behaviour - with pathetic half-assed lies, might I add - but then she went straight into attack mode!"

"'Hey, come to think of it, this guy's in the E class; I can do and say whatever I want to him' - that's definitely what she thought," Hinata added, clearly just as offended by Kaho as Kayano was.

"... It was just a big show of her shooting 'How dare you'-s at me. She had no idea how hypocritical she was. And…" Maehara paused, lower lips trembling slight before he continued, "...that's kinda sad, really, and scary too."

The sides of the hand towel draped by the sides of his head like a curtain as he looked down, tears budding at the edge of his eyes. "Is everyone like that? Would I do the same… to someone who was weaker, who was less than me?"

All the other students wore glum looks on their faces - with the exception of Karma who remained expressionless - as they empathised with Maehara's feelings, evidence that they themselves had ever wondered if they would have been as despicable as Kaho and Seo were. Teresa's eyes hardened at his words as she was, however, disappointed in them.

"If a few words and actions executed based on something as pathetic as discrimination can change you as a person, that would mean you were never that great a person to begin with," she stated, gaining their attention and hints of disbelief in their eyes. Kataoka was about to retort, obviously hurt by Teresa' harsh words, but was cut off by the said girl, who spoke up once more.

"And from what I've seen and know, you aren't anything like them."

That sentence came as a pleasant surprise to them, to which Teresa simply gave a sweet smirk as she folded her arms across her chest. "If you were, I wouldn't have bothered staying in your class."

Karma let out a chuckle and rested his forearm on top of her head, and said, "Man, you just can't be honest, can you?"

Teresa's cheeks were tinted pink as she fake-glared at Karma and pouted, before replying, "That most definitely isn't the case, and stop resting your arm on my head. It kinda hurts my neck." With that, she reached up to slap his arm away, before proceeding to say, "By the way, I want to talk about the more important stuff - are we going to let them get away with it?"

"Huh?" Kayano exclaimed, stepping forward with a bewildered look on her face. "But didn't you just negotiate with the Chairman regarding their punishment?"

"... Can you even call that 'negotiation' anymore?" Kurahashi commented, to which Hayami replied in her usual monotone manner, "It was clearly more of 'extortion' than 'negotiation'..."

"Please, this is the Chairman we're talking about. I have no ways to assure that he would actually keep to his word, and even if he does," Teresa paused, licking her upper lip in an unintentionally seductive manner, sending chills down everyone's spines, "that's not enough to call it 'retribution', now, is it?"

"... You're a queen, alright," Maehara commented, staring at her in pure awe. Nagisa flashed a small smile and turned around to face their teacher. "What do you think, Korosen-"

He paused mid-sentence in shock of the sight before him. Korosensei's head…

"AH!" Both the guys and girls yelped in shock at the sight of their teacher, save for Karma who managed to remain neutral in face of the humorous sight and Teresa who simply stared wide-eyed, as Nagisa exclaimed the obvious. "Korosensei! Your head!"

Their teacher's head was bloated up to beyond larger than belief, and several visible veins were twitching in agitation - an obvious sign of Korosensei's growing fury.

"It's time… for revenge. No, not revenge, a lesson," Korosensei began, garnering everyone's attention as he pointed a tentacle towards them, "it is true that the weak can't help but be victimized. But you aren't weak. Good assassins can eliminate a target… without being seen or leaving evidence."

Korosensei's words struck a chord in all of them, and they perked up in realisation of the implication behind his words. Hinata and Kayano exchanged sly smirks, while Teresa folded her arms while flashing Korosensei a sweet smile. "Glad to know you're in agreement, Korosensei."

"Wait, what are planning, Korosensei?" Maehara asked with a nervous chuckle, the uneasiness evident in his tone. He spied the others warily as, one by one, they began to wear matching grins.

"A little class E justice. As they say, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth - hence, humiliation for humiliation. We'll teach them a lesson they'll never forget!"

* * *

 *** So like, jealousy in Japanese is 'yakimochi', and the kanji 'yaki' can also mean burn/scorch. So basically, Hinata saying she wants to burn Maehara's hair is a play of Japanese kanji.**

 **I'm not going to make promises, but hopefully I get the next chapter up by next month. As always, thanks for reading, please review, tell me what you think and what you might like to see.**

 **XOXO, anime4life2112**


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